Practice
by The Reanimated Raynor
Summary: Practice makes perfect. [December 25, 2005] Added Chapter 23, Inopportunity knocks. Forgot to change the summary.
1. Shimano Motowa

"Mr. Akagawa?"

"Hai?"

"Can I use one of the practice rooms?"

"Hmm? Oh, go ahead."

It was with relief that Ikari Shinji left his seat and made his way to the set of adjoining rooms. His normal Strings teacher was going under the knife for a knee problem, and so wouldn't be back for two weeks, leaving the music class fated to watch movies for that time. Shinji could see no point in sitting around when there was a golden opportunity to hone his cello-playing skills — it was the point of the class, for crying out loud. So instead, he made use of the practice rooms. It wasn't exactly time spent with a qualified instructor, but it was better than — at this point — literally nothing.

He flipped his SDAT player on as he walked into the cramped, dark hallway that connected the music room to the practice rooms. He was listening to music more and more lately, and was more interested in playing it as well. _Maybe I'll become a cellist, playing for the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra... _Shinji thought, then amended _...if NERV will let me._

Stepping into the last practice room — it had a piano in it he could tune his cello with — he flipped the light switch. Through the music, he heard an indecipherable noise, but he thought nothing of it as he put his cello down to turn off his SDAT player. The practice rooms may have been soundproofed, but the ventilation shafts weren't, a design flaw that Shinji dearly hoped someone got fired for.

And so it was that when Shinji switched off his music, he was completely caught off guard by someone moaning "Ohh... kami, yes..." behind him.

Shinji's first reaction was that the sound was coming from the vents, because they weren't soundproofed, but that was immediately struck down by the realization that the sound wasn't tinny enough. Then he wondered why he didn't see anyone else come in when he opened the door... and promptly came to the conclusion that he completely avoided looking at the right side of the room somehow when he turned on the light. He wanted to slink away without looking at the decidedly female owner of that voice, and pretend nothing had happened. But he was turning around of his own accord, and he found that he had no ability — nor desire — to stop himself.

The sight that he saw was magnificent. A girl, about the same age as Shinji, was sitting on one of the three chairs in the room, completely nude, legs spread wide. Her right hand was running all over her body while her left was busy at her clit. The look on her face -- eyes closed, and apparently oblivious to Shinji's presence in the room -- betrayed the fact that she was close to coming, and she let out another moan to reinforce this fact.

Shinji immediately froze. His rational side desperately wanted to give this girl the privacy she probably wanted, but other facets of him were currently in control of his motor functions. He could only stare at the girl as she pleasured herself.

Barely a minute passed before the girl's orgasm hit her and her back arched, mouth open in a silent cry of ecstasy. She froze up like Shinji. This tableau lasted for about ten seconds, neither person breathing or moving.

Finally the girl relaxed and slumped down into her chair. her eyes, which had been closed since Shinji walked in, fluttered open... and immediately came to rest on a pair of shoes on the ground. She followed the shoes up to the body they were attached to, and Shinji smiled weakly at her. "Um, hi."

He was momentarily deafened by her scream.

"Shh! Do you want to get caught!" He said in a rush before she could take in enough breath to scream again. Said breath got caught in her throat as she realized what she just did.

"Oh, shit, they're probably coming, too..." She said in a 'what-do-I-do' kind of voice.

"They're not the only ones..." Shinji mumbled to himself before glancing out the small window in the door. "Stay under the window and out of sight." He said as he opened the door to cut off his teacher, who was making a beeline for that practice room.

"Did you hear that?" Mr. Akagawa asked.

"Yeah, I did, do you know where it came from?" Shinji replied.

Mr. Akagawa stopped when he reached Shinji. "Could have been in the next room, but it should be empty this period. I'm going to go check it out."

"Alright, sir, be careful."

Mr. Akagawa spun on his heels and walked off to address the non-existent problem, and Shinji mentally wished he could have a few minutes with the guy who didn't soundproof the ventilation shafts before going back to the practice room, where the girl was already dressing. "The teacher's gone." Shinji said.

"Thanks." The girl said as she pulled a creamy yellow shirt on over her lavender bra, the last piece of clothing to go on her body. "Listen, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to... I mean I was..."

Shinji just shook his head. "Don't worry about it, I won't tell anyone."

"...Okay, good." She paused for about five seconds, then asked "Why were you watching me?" She didn't sound angry or embarrassed, exactly, just curious.

"Well, I had my music playing and didn't even notice you before I had come in here, put everything down and turned it off, and I kind of lost control of myself. I couldn't help it." Shinji admitted sheepishly, finally starting to blush.

"Hey, no problem. i didn't even notice you until after I was, uh, finished, so I guess that's understandable. And I can relate to not being able to control myself, too." Shinji, despite his blush deepening, laughed. "Um, I'm Motowa." She extended her left hand out to Shinji. "Er..." She blushed slightly as she brought that hand back and extended her right hand.

"Hey, I don't mind." Shinji joked, making Motowa laugh, sounding like music to Shinji's ears.

Shinji shook Motowa's right hand. It was very soft. For some reason, Shinji remembered a passage from _Romeo and Juliet_, and it recited in his mind: _O were I a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek._ He glanced out the window and saw Mr. Akagawa coming back. "Teacher's on his way back. I'll go out, you stay here until we leave."

"Yeah." Motowa agreed. "Don't worry about how I get out of here... I've, uh, done this before."

"Okay." Shinji said, trying not to focus on what exactly she has done before lest he have to explain to Mr. Akagawa why he was happy to see him. "Did you find out what the problem was?" He asked Mr. Akagawa as he flicked off the light in the practice room and walked down the hallway.

"No, whoever it was must have left." Mr. Akagawa replied as he strode past Shinji to the practice room, keys in hand.

"Uh, sir? Why are you locking the door?"

"It's the end of Last Period, Shinji, nobody else is going to be using this room until tomorrow."

"Oh... right, right."

As Shinji and his teacher walked back into the main music room, Shinji was already becoming worried about Motowa. _I hope she can pick locks, or she's got a long, boring wait until... shoot, it's Friday! She's going to be in there for three days!_

Despite his worries, Shinji could see nothing that he could do to get Motowa out of the practice room before Monday. He didn't have a key.


	2. Heat and Frigidity

"Hey, baka." Asuka said as Shinji walked up to her at the side entrance to the school.

They had begun to walk home together, but Asuka insisted it was only for Shinji's protection. "What's the matter? A girl reject you?" Asuka looked lost in thought for a second, then sounded almost apologetic as she amended "No, wait, of course not..." Her tone returned to her usual impish voice as she continued "...no girl would let you get that far!"

"Leave me alone Asuka, I'm not in the mood." Shinji replied, eyes downcast.

Ever since he left school he felt worse and worse about leaving Motowa in what amounted to be a prison cell. "Oh, have I touched a nerve? Has the great Third Child finally gotten up the courage to talk to a girl, only to be struck down?"

Shinji sighed at the obvious attempt to irritate him, and added that as another thing not to think about. But everything he thought about inexplicably got yanked back to Motowa, still locked in that cell of a practice room, banging on the door, yelling out for help, nobody there to hear her--"SHINJI-BAKA!"

A hard yank backwards brought him back to his senses. "Pay attention!" A smack to the back of the head punctuated her castigation.

Shinji was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he failed to realize that he was about to head into heavy traffic. He watched the traffic pass by him until the light turned red, and then he laid eyes on someone he didn't expect to see in this part of Tokyo-3: Ayanami Rei. "What's Wonder Girl doing here? This isn't the way she goes home." Asuka said, the malice in her voice clearly evident.

Rei made no movement until Asuka and Shinji walked across the street, and then fell into step beside Shinji. "What do you think you're doing, Wonder Girl?" Asuka said.

"There is extensive construction on most of the roads west of here. I am unable to walk home as usual, and must walk several blocks North before I can continue on my normal route." Ayanami replied.

Asuka wasn't too happy about it, but she decided it wasn't worth it to protest any further. Rei seemed content to let Asuka brood. They walked in silence for a few blocks, and at a corner Rei turned to cross the street west. "Oh, Shinji: Motowa says 'hi'." Rei said simply before walking off.

"Motowa? As in Shimano Motowa?" Asuka asked Shinji.

"I didn't catch her surname." Shinji replied.

"Light orange spiky hair, kinda looks like a young Misato..."

Shinji had never made that connection before, but now that Asuka mentioned it... "That's her. Do you know her?"

"She's in my P.E. class. She's got quite a set of legs on her."

"That she does." Shinji said wistfully, then realized the trap he fell into.

"Ecchi! I meant she's a good runner!"

Shinji blushed at his freudian slip, but declined to comment further. "I guess her name really does suit her, she really is virtuous, to talk to you!" Asuka continued.

"_You're_ talking to me, aren't you?" Shinji began to get annoyed with Asuka's ridicule.

He waited for the slap, but never got any further physical abuse. "We live and work together, baka! If it wasn't for that I wouldn't so much as hand you a glass of water if you were on fire!"

_That much was obvious._ Shinji thought. "How did you two meet, anyway?" Asuka asked, and Shinji tried desperately to keep from blanching.

"I... went into a practice room during Strings, only to find that it was already occupied." _Which is close enough to the truth._

"Really? I didn't know she played an instrument."

_She wasn't playing an instrument._ Shinji thought with a mental smirk. "She was messing around on the piano in the room. I don't think she plays anything seriously."

"So are you interested in her?"

"I've just met her."

"Like it takes you more than five seconds to find her worth your ogling or not."

_Ouch. _Shinji thought, sighing as he suddenly got the feeling that the conversation would turn for the worse soon. "I wouldn't mind getting to know her."

"I'd bet." Asuka's tone of voice told Shinji that she wasn't exactly happy with the idea.

"What's the matter? Afraid you'll become less popular if I the _Great Third Child—"_ Shinji loaded those words with sarcasm "—started hanging out with her?"

This time, Shinji took three blows for his comment, each punctuated with a curt "Baka!"

"Owww..." Shinji said, his head swimming as he tried to get himself to stop seeing stars. _Last time I offer my opinion to her._

"Like I need your help to retain my rightful position." Asuka said firmly and fell into another angry silence.

Shinji, still reeling, was perfectly content to let her brood. Just as long as she didn't hit him again. _She'll give me brain damage one of these days._ Shinji thought. _And then she'll start telling me to smarten up. She did say she didn't need me... _

---

"So, how were your days?" Misato asked as the three of them sat around their table, having what Misato and Misato only would call food.

"Not bad. I made up my last physics test mark by answering most of the oral questions asked today." Asuka said around a mouthful of instant ramen.

"Good." Misato said. "I'm still trying to get them to make an exception for you and translate the text to German, but nobody's listening to me."

"You're a Major for NERV! Aren't you able to go up to them, say jump, and they all say 'how high'?"

"Technically yes, but it has to have a tangible link to some kind of angel attack or emergency. If you can give me an excuse, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, I have to go through normal channels."

"You could always get Section Two to dig up some dirt on someone."

"Asuka, that's underhanded and very evil." Misato chided, not really meaning it, then thought for a second. "That doesn't mean I can't use it as an ace-in-the-hole, though." Misato winked at Asuka. "You've been quieter than normal, Shinji. Anything the matter?"

"Probably thinking about his girlfriend." Asuka teased, prompting Shinji to choke on his noodles.

"Oh? You have a girlfriend, Shinji?"

"N- cough -no! Sh-she's not my girlfriend..."

"Well, let's start with who she is."

"Shimano Motowa." Shinji replied.

"You sure don't aim low, do you?" Misato commented, remembering one of Asuka's conversations last week about how Motowa looked like a young version of herself.

"Wh-I- for goodness' sake, I've barely met the girl!"

"You shared a practice room with her for most of your Strings period..." Asuka said, a Cheshire Cat grin spreading across her features. "Just you and her, all alone..."

"N-no! It wasn't like that!" Shinji practically yelled over both Asuka's and Misato's laughing. "She was in the practice room with the piano, I walked in without realizing it was occupied, and that was that!"

"Ah, love at first sight, how romantic..." Misato said in a wistful tone, doubling Asuka over in laughter and deepening Shinji's blush even further. "Calm down, Shinji, I'm joking. So, is she as pretty as everyone says she is?"

"She looks like you, kind of."

"Ah, even more so then." Misato said with a grin as she reached for her beer, the third of the meal.

"Depends on who you ask." Shinji said, finally getting a shot in of his own as Misato's grin disappeared. She guzzled about half of her beer before putting it down. "That wasn't funny."

"Neither is the two of you trying to match-make me with Motowa, especially since I've met her _once_!"

"And yet you're already on a first-name basis with her? You must've made quite an impression." Misato said.

"I give up." Shinji said dejectedly, slumping down in his seat, though he knew that she was right about that last point.


	3. The Mall, the Meeting and The Planets

"I'm going to shop for a while here, Shinji. I'll meet you and Asuka at the food court at one." Misato said to Shinji as they stopped at the entrance to a clothing store.

"Hai." Shinji replied as he walked off to find a music store.

Shinji was glad to be left to his own devices for a while. Asuka had already gone to another part of the mall, having met Hikari by chance as they were walking in the main entrance. He began to worry about Motowa again. Asuka's and Misato's jokes made him forget temporarily about her predicament, but now that he had some time to think he had nothing else, really, to think about. He pictured her, sitting in the prison that was that practice room, crying, wondering why Shinji didn't—

His depressing train of thought was derailed when he bumped into someone. "Gomen nasai." both people said at the same time.

Shinji then realized who it was. "Motowa!"

"Hey, Shinji, how are you doing?" Motowa said back, smiling.

"Good. How did you get out of that practice room after Mr. Akagawa locked it?"

Motowa blinked. "Those doors are made so they only lock one-way. You can still open them from the inside."

Shinji paused for a second, then slapped his forehead and started laughing to himself. "And here I was, thinking that you were trapped in there."

Motowa laughed, lifting Shinji's spirits even further. "Is that why you weren't watching where you were going? Because you were worried about me?"

"Well, actually... yes."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Motowa said, stepping forward and hugging Shinji.

Shinji was taken aback by this sudden show of affection, and froze. His heart began to race. Upon noticing his reaction, she let go of Shinji. "Oh, sorry for making you uncomfortable. I'm kind of the touchy-feely type."

"I gathered." Shinji replied dryly, then blushed at her inadvertant pun.

Motowa just giggled at Shinji's response. "You can't get that out of your head either, huh?"

"Uh-well-I— wait, either?"

"Well, to tell the truth that's the first time someone's walked in on me, uh, doing that. Something like that tends to stick with you."

Shinji was about to reply when he heard Asuka's voice behind him and he cringed. "Shinji!"

Motowa looked past Shinji to who was speaking to him. "Oh, you know Asuka as well?"

"Unfortunately..." Shinji said as Asuka came up to the two of them.

"Find anything at the— Oh, I didn't know you were talking to your _girlfriend_..."

"She isn't my girlfriend!" Shinji said.

That raised Motowa's eyebrows. "Of course she isn't. What chance do you think you have with her?" Asuka replied in her usual impish tone.

"Whoa, easy girl, what has Shinji done to deserve that?" Motowa interjected.

"He's way too perverted for his own good, so watch out." Asuka stated simply, prompting Shinji to look up to the heavens through the skylight they were under and think _What did I do to deserve this?_

"That seems untrue from what I've known of Shinji... and besides, I like 'em with a little ecchi in them."

That took Asuka back somewhat, and so with a harumph she stormed off. "I was going to ask why you said 'unfortunately', but now I know. Considering her popularity, she's not very nice."

"Maybe the school is populated by masochists." Shinji said, making Motowa laugh again.

Shinji resolved to make more jokes around her, because he was quickly getting addicted to the sound. "How do you know her, anyway? In a class with her?" Motowa asked.

"More than that. I not only go to school with her, I live and work with her."

"...Oh wow, you're the Third Child everyone's talking about. You seem so... normal." If this had been anyone else speaking, Shinji would have taken it as a bad thing, but Motowa's tone of voice said that it was actually a plus. "You're a real role model."

"What? I am?"

"Sure! You're just like everyone else, but you have the courage and the ability to pilot a skyscraper with legs and save the planet! You're kind of a modern-day Superman, a high-school-aged Clark Kent of Tokyo-3."

"I never thought of it like that." _Or rather, nobody would let me be positive enough to think that._

"You don't like living with Asuka, do you?" Motowa asked.

It was less a question than confirmation on an educated guess. "Well, no, not really. Around Misato she's not too bad, but she's at work for most of the day and... well, you saw how she is with me in public. She's worse at home."

"'My grief lies all within, and these external manners of lament are merely shadows to the unseen grief that swells with silence in the tortured soul.'" Motowa quoted solemnly as they started to wander.

"That pretty well sums it up. The quote sounds like Shakespeare."

"Richard II, in fact."

"It's very pretty, considering its subject."

"Most of shakespeare's quotes are." Motowa thought a moment before speaking again. "'I count myself in nothing else so happy as in a soul remembering my good friends.' That's Richard II, as well."

"I'm a good friend?"

"Well, you have to be that before you're my boyfriend." Motowa said, making Shinji blush.

She laughed as they walked into the music store, and both made their way past the top-40s and rock sections to Classical and Jazz. "And I thought I was the only one who listened to this stuff." Shinji said.

"My tastes in music are all over the place. Classical, Jazz, Electronica, Metal, Ambient..."

"Wow. I've never seen someone's taste in music so eclectic."

"That's what most people say. I find that I can pick out the good qualities of each type of music. Classical and Electronica, for example, can evoke emotion without the need to dumb them down into language. Jazz is completely freeform, without a real need for structure, and so a lot of new styles of music can come of it. Metal and Trance music are both good for waking one up and giving them energy, while ambient and some classical music is good for the opposite, putting people to sleep and drawing off excess energy. Pop music... well, it makes people happy."

"You don't like sappiness for the sake of sappiness either."

"Not on such a broad scale, no. So who's your favorite composer?"

"I don't really look at who the composer is, I go for what sounds good."

"Good answer, but you must have a favorite from your collection."

Shinji thought for a moment. "Holst."

"Ooo, _The Planets. _Good choice."

"You?"

"Stravinsky, _The Rite of Spring._ Hands down."

"You know, I never got that one. I really should."

"Well, we are in a music store."

"Oh yeah..." Shinji said in an exaggerated tone, as if Motowa had just helped Shinji solve some grand enigma.

They browsed in silence for a while, moving from section to section. finally, they both made their way to the register. "What'd you pick up?"

"_Rite of Spring_, and a soundtrack to the anime _Serial Experiments Lain_."

"It has a soundtrack?" Motowa asked in amazement. "What's on it?"

"Lain's theme, the opening theme, TV and Cyberia Edit... that has to be a typo."

"What does?"

"Well, let me put it this way, I have to spell it. _"s"peEd_."

"What the... that doesn't sound right at all."

"Yeah, there are some weird names here. How about you? What'd you get?"

"_Planets_ and an album by the psychedelic-rock-techno band Massive Attack."

"Heh, you never got _Planets_?"

"Well, I'd been meaning to, but kept forgetting, and I don't have a lot of time over the week to go to malls and hang out."

"Don't worry about it, it's not like I'm any better when it comes to things like that."

"But you'd rather be alone?" Motowa said as they paid for their SDAT tapes and walked out the door.

"Close. I'd prefer to do things with really close friends, people who I can open up and talk about things."

"Like you're doing now?"

"Like I'm doing now." Shinji reached into his bag and pulled out _The Rite of Spring,_ changing it with the current tape in his SDAT player. "You seem to know a lot about me."

"It's kind of a hobby of mine. I'm usually a good judge of character, and I believe that's one of the best skills one could have. So I constantly hone said skills, figuring out what makes the people around me tick. Like that man over there." Motowa pointed out a stressed-looking businessman. "I'd bet that he's expecting someone to meet him here soon, but he can't find the place they're supposed to be meeting him at, due to the fact that he's constantly checking his watch, and the fact that he's looking around everywhere after he does so, in an effort to gain his bearings. This also tells me that either he's meeting someone very important, or he gets stressed out easily. It's the latter, because of the extensive wrinkles on his face."

"Impressive... you're very observant."

"Thank you. I try to be."

---

"Enjoy your time with your _girlfriend_, Shinji?" were the first words out of Asuka's mouth when Shinji got to the table that Misato and Asuka were sitting at.

Shinji had decided that he had enough with Asuka's teasing and replied "Yes, I did, actually."

"Hmmpf. I can't figure out what she sees in a baka like you."

Shinji decided to cease his pointless bickering with Asuka, a gesture Asuka took as surrender. A smug grin on her face, she resumed eating. Shinji sat down with the plate of sushi he had ordered.

"So it's official, then?" Misato asked from across the table around a mouthful of noodles.

"Hmm? Oh--er--no, I was only joking."

"Playing it cool, are you? I'm sure that if she's the one for you, you'll know soon."

"What makes you say that?"

"Love doesn't usually wait around for something to happen." Misato said simply, apparently in a rare philosophical mood as she stared off into space. "It instead goes out into the world and grabs whatever it wants."


	4. Hot Flash

"I'm home!" I announce as I walk in the front door.

No answer. Hm. Mom must still be out herself. I kick the door shut behind me and take off my shoes.

I stifle a yawn as I hang a left and walk into the living room, depositing the tapes and assorted things I bought beside me as I plop down on the couch. It was hot today, and my shirt is clinging uncomfortably to me. I wouldn't have it any other way, though -- it was sunny and bright out, the perfect weather conditions. I groan, getting up and stripping my shirt off as I walk to the bathroom down the hall, further into the house where the air conditioning works a little better. I deposit it in the clothes hamper.

After stopping up the sink, then running the cold water for a while, I dunk my head in. The initial shock of cold feels wonderful in contrast to the sticky heat I had been feeling almost since I left. _Man, does that feel better. _I think, bringing my head back into the air. _One heat centre down..._ I take a handful of water and splash it down one arm, then the other, and my core temperature finally begins to cool down to something like normal levels.

I towel off my head and arms quickly, drain the sink, and mop up what splashed over the side before walking into my room... then make an about-face and walk back into the living room to retrieve my forgotten goods. _Wow_, I think as I pick up the shopping bag. _You can really feel the temperature difference in here._

After checking everything for signs of melting, I head back into my room. My strength is already failing me, and I would like nothing more than to just flop down on my bed and listen to my new SDAT tapes.

Unfortunately, I realize too late, one prevents the other from happening. As soon as I hit my futon, I do _not_ want to move. I glance at the bag, dropped just beside where my head currently resides before I fell, and my laziness decides for me. _The Planets_ will have to wait.

I grope around above my head for the remote to my stereo, and when I find it, hit the on button. The device whirrs to life across the room, clicking and whirring as it loads the current tape. I forget which one is in the stereo, until the first few notes of _Jardin de Cecile_ greet my ears. _Ah yes, Juno Reactor's _Bible of Dreams.

I wonder idly if my musical pendulum will ever fully swing away from techno. _Probably not. _I realize after a second or so. _It's so high-energy._

Besides exceptions, like the first part of this song. Its ambient quality quickly puts me into a kind of meditative trance, and I relax completely. My mind starts to drift aimlessly.

I think about the Practice Room incident, as I've come to call it (no pun intended). I've had some close calls, the times I've felt the urge to relieve a little tension in a relatively public place.

I remember the first time I did it, in a public washroom. I couldn't believe how free it made me feel. I let out a giggle at the next thought that passes through my mind -- _Yes, I have the power to masturbate wherever I want!_

My mind goes back to when Shinji walked in on me. I remember being caught up in the throes of passion as my hand worked on my throbbing clit. I could easily hear a click as the door was opened, but... why didn't I stop?

_I know why._ I think. _I took what amounted to me as the lesser of two evils._ I had been too worked up to stop.

_As I continued, I could also hear the sounds of Shinji putting his cello down, then turning around and freezing in his tracks. By then, I was so close... I was barely breathing, all my energy drawn towards bringing me to climax--_

My eyes open with a start as I wake up from the pseudo-fugue I had slipped into. The world is sideways -- I had turned onto my right side in the fetal position while I zoned out. Breathing hard, I shift, suddenly feeling uncomfortable... and throw my head back as a wave of pleasure suddenly hits me. My hand had unconsciously found its way into my jeans, and one finger currently resides inside me. I go to bring my hand out of my pants, but as I move I become more and more worked up. I groan as I realize that hand isn't going anywhere.

I shift onto my back and fumble with the button on my jeans with one hand, while attempting to keep my idle right hand still, while still inside me. _One thing at a time, here._

I finally get my jeans undone and work them off of me with my one free hand. Then I move to my shirt... _May as well get it over with._ I pull my finger out of me, and arch my back at the sensation it produces. With a sigh, I half sit up to take my shirt off.

When that's done, I lie back... and then a thought occurs to me. _My body was doing fine on its own before..._ I focus on the music again, this time a medium-tempo heavy trance song called Komit.

My mind wanders, and I'm pulled back into my reverie.

---

_Our tongues slide against each other as we kiss, his hand coming up to cup my left breast. I close my eyes and revel in the sensation. His other hand starts at the valley between my breasts and moves down my body. I let out a giggle at the sensation it produces. "Someone might see us." I say, glancing around the darkened practice room._

_"I wouldn't worry about it." He replies._

_"I didn't say I was worr-ohhh..." All coherent thought leaves me as he reaches my slit, running his fingers up and down it through my panties._

_"You like that?"_

_"Ohh, kami, yes..." I can't believe the sensations he can produce in me._

_"You'll like this even more..."_

_He slips his hand inside my panties and just begins toying with my trimmed pubic hair. I'm surprisingly ticklish there, and giggle even more at the feeling of being tickled and pleasured at the same time, having to break the kiss in the process._

_I develop a case of the giggles as he continues to toy with my pubic hair, and my head lolls back, my energy seemingly rushing from me as I continue to laugh. He takes this opportunity to move his hand up to the side of my neck, kissing the other side. His hand finally moves down past my pubic hair to my slit again, producing a cross between a titter and a moan as a jolt of pleasure reaches my brain. He gets me very, _very_ worked up in a matter of moments, skillfully rubbing my clit, knowing exactly how to bring me pleasure._

_I bite down on my bottom lip, lost in a haze of sensation by now. The stroking motions on my clit come faster and faster, and the world shrinks to nothing as I ignore most of my senses, focusing solely on the intense pleasure I'm receiving._ I moan aloud, a hand coming up to cup my right breast. The fingers lightly slide over my skin, twirling around in tighter and tighter spirals until they reach my areola. A single finger lightly goes around the circle, barely missing my nipple... and then it gets brushed right over, finally throwing me over the edge into complete and utter rapture.

And then it leaves as quickly as it hit me. My eyes snap open and a sideways view of the world greets me once again. Before I do anything else, I open my mouth and take a big gasp of air. The feeling of being extremely out-of-breath hits me a fraction a second later, making me breathe hard as I realize what must have happened. _I stopped breathing again..._

I stop and listen to my heart for a while, beating steadily in rhythm... too steadily. What the... As I further snap out of my trance, I realize that what I'm hearing isn't my heartbeat, but the kick drum of _Swamp Thing_. And it's _loud..._ a lot louder than I set it to. I get up to look for the remote when I feel something jabbing at my hip. I look down, and sure enough, the remote's there, pointing straight at my stereo. Must have laid down on Volume Up. I sigh and pull the remote out from under me, thumbing down the volume to its normal level. Sitting up straight, I look at my right hip and I can make out little indentations in my skin where the buttons poked into me... even one that went through the fabric of my panties.

Speaking of... I make a face as I realize the material is practically sloshing around when I move. I swing my legs over the side of my bed and stand up, walking over to my dresser and pulling out another pair of cotton panties from the top drawer. I slip them on and--

The realization of what my subconscious created finally hits me and I freeze. Was I really that affected by him? Granted, he did save me from probable expulsion... I do want to get to know him...

I dress on autopilot as the rest of my brain works furiously, trying to answer one question:

Am I falling in love with him?

---

Thanks to Lord Raa for his ideas on how the fanfic is going and where it could go.

The idea of this lemon scene is an adaptation of Haruka and Michiru: Second Honeymoon. 


	5. Inexperience

"'Afternoon, Mr. Akagawa." Shinji said as he walked into his Strings class.

He was always the first one to come to Strings, since his History class was down the hall. "Hello, Shinji." Shinji was about to go and put his bag down by his seat when Mr. Akagawa spoke again. "I want to talk to you about something."

_Oh, no, he's found out somehow._ Was the only thing Shinji could think. "You made use of the practice room last class, while everyone else was here watching a movie. I admire your initiative, and so, here." Mr. Akagawa gave Shinji a key. "This is the key to unlock the practice rooms. It's yours for as long as I'm here."

"Really? Thank you, sir... but are you sure you..." Shinji trailed off.

"Yes, I've already talked it over with the administration, they decided that it was fine to give you the key since it only unlocks the practice rooms, and you need to get into the drama room or this room first to have access to the rooms anyway. Just don't lose it." Mr. Akagawa smiled.

"I won't, sir."

Students were starting to file into the class. "You can go to the practice rooms whenever you like, or you can stay here and take some time off when you feel like it. Your choice."

"Thanks, sir." Shinji said again as he picked up his cello and walked to the door that led to the practice room hallway.

Shinji walked through the door and then leaned back against it, breathing heavily. _Okay, false alarm, you can quit beating so hard now._ He tried to tell his heart as he walked to the end of the hallway.

He was halfway to the last practice room when a thought hit him and he froze in his tracks... _No._ He thought, resuming his pace. _Coincidence the first time, I doubt she'd be here again._

He tried to look into the room through the tiny window set into the door, but he couldn't see anything in the pitch-blackness. _If I'm so worried about catching Motowa again,_ Shinji thought as he opened the door, _Why am I still going in this room?_

Kicking the door closed and flicking the light on, he glanced around the room. He let out a sigh of relief as it was blessedly empty. Setting his SDAT player on top of the piano, he continued to think about Motowa as he sat down and arranged his music on the stand in the room. _Am I really as ecchi as Asuka makes me out to be, hoping to walk in and see someone doing _that_ again?_

Shinji began to play, the cello section of an orchestral version of _Fly Me to the Moon_ filling the air in the tiny room. _No, _he decided. _I just wanted to see Motowa again._

He paused for half a note as realization hit him. _I wanted to see Motowa again... I've been thinking about her ever since I walked in on her here... I could get used to being a good friend of hers... or maybe more than that?_

Shinji thought about what Motowa said at the mall._ "'I count myself in nothing else so happy as in a soul remembering my good friends.'" _Motowa's voice echoed in his mind, unconsciously slowing his playing by a half a beat-per-minute or so.

_"I'm a good friend?"_ Shinji's memory replied.

_"Well, you have to be that before you can be--"_

The clicking sound of a door being opened startled Shinji, and he winced as his bow slipped, producing what could only be described as the mating call of an exotic bird as the strings were rubbed in entirely the wrong way. "Ooh, sorry," A familiar voice said, closing the door again.

Shinji blinked as he recognized the voice after a second. He set down his cello carefully and opened the door again. Motowa was already halfway down the corridor. "Motowa?" Shinji called out.

Motowa stopped in her tracks and turned around. "Shinji?" Even in the dim light, the blush on her face was evident. "Sorry, I didn't know it was you in there, or I would have come in."

Shinji had been walking down the hallway towards Motowa, but stopped as he heard that. He blushed at the memory of what had happened the last time the two of them were in that practice room, as well as the thought of it possibly occurring again, though he'd never admit that thought to anyone else.

Motowa snickered in embarrassment. "Shinji!" She jokingly chided.

Shinji himself started to laugh nervously. "Sorry..."

"You like me, don't you?" She giggled, walking back towards him, only really meaning it as a joke.

Shinji blushed even deeper, the laughter dying away. "Yes, I think I do."

It was Motowa's turn to freeze in her tracks once again. "You do?"

"Yeah." Shinji said. "I haven't been able to keep you out of my thoughts for the last four days. Heck, I couldn't even fully concentrate on my music, I was thinking about when I met you at the mall."

Motowa resumed her walk towards Shinji. "I've been thinking about you a lot, too," She said as she reached the Third Child. "And..." She trailed off as she leaned forward and kissed Shinji.

All of Shinji's muscles immediately locked up in their current position, save for his heart, which sped up rapidly. At Shinji's reaction, Motowa pulled back. "Oh, I'm sorry, Shinji, I'm being too forward, aren't I?"

It took a full second for Shinji to actually hear Motowa, and another two to parse it, but when he did he spoke on impulse. "No, no... I wasn't expecting it, that was all..."

Motowa's eyes were downcast. "Gomen nasai..." She said, starting to turn around.

Shinji acted quickly, grabbing Motowa's wrist to stop her. Her head snapped up to look directly into Shinji's eyes, seeing a strange emotion in the seas of bottomless blue. "I just wasn't expecting it..." Shinji repeated as he tilted his head and leaned forward.

Their lips met, and this time it was Motowa's turn to lock up, her brain overloading at the electric sensation it produced. Shinji pulled away again after a few seconds.

The two students stared at each other for what seemed like ages. Finally, Shinji began to chuckle. "What?" Motowa asked.

"That was my first kiss." Shinji replied.

"It was?" Motowa said, then blushed deeply. "You... you're a natural."

Shinji chuckled again. "Thank you."

More silence. "So now what happens?" Motowa asked.

Shinji glanced at his watch. "Um, I'd like to continue practicing my cello... if you'd like to come listen, you can."

"Okay." Motowa said, following Shinji into the room again.

Shinji picked up his cello and began playing. "You know the song _Fly me to the Moon_?"

"I think so..." Motowa said before clearing her throat. "Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars..."

Motowa's voice was quite a bit off-key, but Shinji wasn't about to say anything. If anything, his was worse. "That's the one." He said.

"I know, my singing is terrible." Motowa said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it," Shinji said, "mine is worse..." Shinji sang the next two lines of the song. "Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars..."

"We're a fine duo, aren't we? Between the two of us, I think we'll get most of the windows in the school at this rate." Motowa said dryly.

Shinji laughed as he started playing.

---

"Why can't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Motowa, but it's classified. I'd love to tell you, really, I would, but I really don't need Section Two hunting the both of us down."

Motowa's eyes widened. "Is it really that bad?"

"When they say 'Top Secret', they mean it."

Shinji's watch beeped. "And that's the end of class." He got up and stretched. "Wow, that didn't seem like a whole period."

"Time flies when you're having fun?" Motowa offered, getting to her feet herself.

"Nah, better than that." Shinji replied.

"Hm?"

"'Sit with a pretty girl and two hours seem like two minutes. Sit on a hot stove and two minutes seem like two hours. That's relativity.'"

Motowa blushed. "You think I'm pretty?"

"You're kidding me, right? You're absolutely beautif--oof!"

Shinji felt the rest of the air in his lungs leave in a whoosh as he was suddenly pulled into a crushing hug by Motowa. "Thank you..." Motowa said. "You don't know how much that means to me..."

Motowa pulled back and gave Shinji a quick peck on the cheek before letting go of him again. "Are you doing anything after class?"

Shinji thought for a second before he realized that he indeed had prior engagements. "Synch test."

"Oh. Well, there's always tomorrow." She smiled. "Hey, do you lug that thing home every day?" She said, pointing to Shinji's cello, still on its side on the ground.

"No, I only do that when I have a reason to. Why?"

"Well... do you want to know how a secret way of getting out of here?"

"Huh? Uh, ok..."

"Good. Go put your cello away and meet me at the second practice room."

Shinji nodded and walked out the door with his cello, wondering what kind of secret way would exist to get outside the school, and how Motowa knew about it in the first place.

---

...but I can't tell you, because you're not a monk.

Anyways, I'm horribly sorry for cliffhanging like this, but I'm trying to keep these chapters roughly the same length. But look on the bright side, it took me one day to write this chapter! I could have another one out tomorrow!

Or it could be two weeks like Chapter 4's update.

Nah, I know how the next chapter'll pan out. I'll start on the next chapter as soon as this one is posted.

By the by, I did some photomanip work on a picture of Misato to come up with a sketch of Motowa. It can be found at A comparison (IE, the original) picture of Misato is on the right.


	6. Acrobatics

"How did you do today, Shinji?" Mr. Akagawa asked as Shinji walked into the main music room.

"Hmm? Oh, fine, fine..." Shinji replied. "After I put this away, I'm going to go lock up." _That gives me a good enough reason to back,_ Shinji thought.

"That's alright, Shinji, I can do that."

"I may as well, sir. Besides, I'm sure you're got more important administrative work to do."

Mr. Akagawa's eyes widened. "Shoot, I had almost forgotten, the principal had wanted to see me in his office after dismissal today! Thanks, Shinji. I'll lock the outside doors, so make sure you close them when you come out."

"I will, sir." Shinji said as the music teacher walked out the door and closed it, standing up his cello case beside the others and closing the doors... or what passed for closed, anyway.

_This thing should get fixed, and soon._ Shinji thought as he watched the doors swing ajar again. _If anyone got in here, they'd be able to get in this closet easily._

Sighing at the state of disrepair this part of the school was in, Shinji walked back into the Practice Room hallway and locked the first and third practice rooms up. He opened the door to the second practice room before locking it, ensuring that it would lock behind him when he closed it. He blinked when he realized that the light was off in the room. Shrugging, Shinji closed the door and turned around to flick on the light. "Okay, Motowa, so where is this..."

Shinji turned around and trailed off as he realized that nobody else was in the room. "Psst, Shinji! up here!" Motowa said from above somewhere.

Shinji looked up and saw that the air vent cover had been taken off. "The air vents?"

"Yeah. They can easily hold a person." Motowa said, getting out of the vent and jumping down beside Shinji near-soundlessly.

"Okay, so lead on, I'll follow you."

"Um, actually, I'm going to let you go first."

Shinji gave Motowa a look of confusion. "Why?"

"Shinji, look at what I'm wearing."

Shinji realized what Motowa was talking about. "Right, you've got a skirt..." Shinji blushed.

Motowa giggled. "I like you and all, but I'm not quite ready to give you that kind of a view. At least, on purpose."

Shinji laughed. "Alright. So how did you jump up there in the first place?"

"Kicked off the wall." Motowa said, pointing towards a scuff mark about halfway up the wall. "I can give you a boost if you can't jump up like that."

Shinji gave the wall and the ceiling an appraising look. "Okay, I should be able to do this..."

Motowa stood back so Shinji didn't run into her. He leaped at the wall and kicked off of it, grabbing the edges of the hole in the ceiling. He tried to pull himself up, but his arms buckled. "Need a leg up?" Motowa asked mirthfully.

"Please." Shinji replied, watching Motowa walk around Shinji and kneel down.

She grabbed Shinji's ankles and said "On three." Shinji nodded. "One... Two... _Three_!"

Motowa yanked Shinji's legs up as best she could, and Shinji was able to pull himself up and into the space above the air vent. It apparently connected directly with a room upstairs, as there was a shaft going straight up along with the two going horizontal. "Shinji? You made it ok?" Motowa asked.

"Yep."

"Do me a favour, stay back of the vent while I get up. I tend to be..."

"flailing?" Shinji offered.

"Something like that." Motowa said in a 'watch this' kind of tone that made Shinji blink.

Barely a second passed before Motowa shot up from the opening, her legs tucked in, grabbing for the sides of the hole. She was able to grab onto both sides, and when she had a good grip began to swing in place. After gathering up steam for a while she extended her legs and used the momentum to enter the air vent across from the one Shinji was sitting in feet-first, sliding for a ways before coming to a stop.

Shinji was dumbfounded by the display of athleticism. "Wow." He said, unable to think of anything else to say.

Motowa giggled at Shinji's reaction, tilting her head up to look at Shinji upside-down. "Gymnastics has its perks." She said mirthfully as she rolled onto her stomach, crossing her arms and resting her chin on them.

"You're a gymnast?"

"Yep. I do the uneven bars best, though I'm pretty good at vaulting, too."

"Cool." Shinji said. "So which way is out?"

"Thataway." Motowa said, pointing in Shinji's direction.

"Okay..." When it was clear Motowa wasn't making any move to go across the hole, Shinji said "Aren't you coming this way too?"

"Well, yes, but I kind of need some space in order to make it across. Unless you want to catch me." Motowa added with a smirk.

"Would that help?" At Motowa's surprised blink, Shinji added "I mean, landing on me would probably be less painful then landing on metal." Shinji rapped his knuckles on the air vent's wall to emphasize his point, the sound reverberating down the shaft.

Motowa smiled warmly at Shinji. "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course!" Shinji said without hesitation.

"I could hug you... but I think I'll settle for tackle-glomping you, which is essentially what I'm about to do..." Motowa edged closer to the duct's opening so that all the weight was on her arch, pressed against the edge.

_She looks like she's a runner on blocks like that..._ Shinji mused. "Ready, Shinji?" Motowa asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be..." Shinji said, suddenly not so sure about the whole thing.

Motowa said "Okay, on three. One... two... three!" and launched herself over the opening.

All Shinji saw was an orange-and-green blur before he was essentially run over by Motowa. Her momentum was so strong that they both skidded for a good five feet before coming to a stop.

Shinji groaned and tried to open his eyes again. He blinked when he realized that he couldn't see anything, even after his eyes were open. "Motowa? You ok?" Shinji said, his voice muffled by the fabric he was under.

He tried to sit up before his nose hit something squishy and Motowa squealed. "Sorry, sorry!" Shinji said, lying back down and waiting for Motowa to climb off of him, which she did quickly. "I-I'm fine, Shinji, are you ok?"

Shinji quickly probed his upper chest, which had taken the brunt of the force from Motowa's leap into him. "I'm a little sore, but I should be fine. What did I hit to make you squeal like that?" Shinji said, sitting up and turning around to look at Motowa.

Shinji blinked when he saw Motowa's face, which was beet-red. "You kind of hit me in a sensitive area..." She said.

It took a full second for the meaning of her words to sink in, but when they did Shinji blushed as hard as Motowa. "S-sorry."

"That's ok, I wasn't sure where you were when we came to a stop either. I think I overdid it a bit..." She said, then laughed at the absurdity of it.

"Yeah, maybe just a bit..." Shinji said dryly.

Motowa giggled with embarrassment. "So, um, go ahead." She said, pressing herself against the wall of the air vent to let Shinji pass her.

He moved past Motowa and began to crawl along the shaft. He heard Motowa falling into step, so to speak, behind him.

They moved along the duct in silence until they got to a corner with another vertical shaft. This one, however, had a large fan in it that blew upwards, and tiny tendrils of light made their way between the blades, bouncing off the walls until it hit the bottom. Shinji sniffed the air, a strange smoky scent reaching his nostrils. "What is that smell?" Shinji asked, not really expecting an answer.

Motowa smelled the air as well, and realization hit her. "Oh, um, that's smoke... A few people I know would sneak into this place and light up."

Shinji blinked. "This doesn't smell like cigarette smoke." Shinji thought back to the rare time he was around cigarettes, the plant being very endangered after the Second Impact and the industry a shadow of its former self.

"Well, uh, I never said it was cigarette smoke."

Realization hit Shinji. "Oh." He said, and turned the corner towards another point of light shining along the horizontal tunnel.

They moved in silence for a short while, before Shinji asked "Have you ever..." He trailed off.

"Lit up with my friends? No, I haven't." Motowa replied. "I tried it once, hated the way it made me feel. I was so slow and sluggish. My friends are all artists, though, so it's not like I'm going to fault them for finding a reliable source of creativity."

Shinji mulled over her answer. _She said she had tried it, but hated it. I suppose that's good... I'd hate for someone with so much life go through it held back._

Shinji's mind then shifted gears somewhat. _I wonder what it would be like to... _He shook that thought out of his head. _No, I probably shouldn't. For one, it'd wreak havoc with my sync ratio..._

Shinji paused for a half-second to check his watch before continuing to crawl along the vent. "Are you running late?" Motowa asked, a little worry creeping into her voice.

"No, I've got lots of time. The synch test is at four, and it's only three-fourteen."

"Ok, good. I was kind of worried that I was making you run late."

_Even if I was late, I wouldn't mind._ Shinji thought to himself as they finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel, in the form of a grate blocking the opening. "Now, Shinji, it's a bit of a drop, so you'll have to watch out for that. The grate swings up and leans against the brick, so you don't have to worry about it hitting you in the head or anything once it's out of your way." Motowa instructed.

"Hai." Shinji said automatically, pushing the grate until it had swung around halfway.

When he heard the clang of metal hitting brick, he appraised the drop and how best to jump down. He estimated the vertical drop at eight feet, and so if he hung down and dropped it wouldn't be that bad of a fall. Shinji carefully climbed down until he was hanging off the edge, then let go. His shoes hit the concrete with a slap as he landed. "Did you make it okay?" Motowa's voice echoed out from the shaft, sounding a little hollow.

"Yeah, I'm fine... do you need me to get out of your way?" Shinji asked, already stepping forward.

"No, you actually need to hug the wall for the way I'm going to get down." Motowa replied.

"Huh?"

"Just watch." Motowa said in the same 'watch this' tone she used earlier.

Shinji stood with his back to the wall and looked upwards. Motowa was setting up like she did before when she leaped into Shinji. She took off, flying over Shinji's head. When she landed, she tucked into a roll and let her momentum dissipate, coming out of the roll perfectly to stand about twenty feet in front of Shinji. She turned around and smiled. "That was fun!"

"Wow, Motowa, where did you learn to do that!" Shinji said in disbelief, still not sure that he had just seen that.

"A couple of friends of mine do this thing called parkour. It involves a lot of vaulting over things and jumping up, down and off of other things, and rolling is a big part of landing without killing yourself."

"'Parkour'? I've never heard of it."

Motowa shrugged. "Not a lot of people have. How are you getting to NERV?" Motowa asked suddenly as a thought occured to her.

Shinji thought for a second. "I was thinking of walking, it's a nice day out." He replied.

"Perfect, then I can do a little bit of parkour on the way there. Not some of the really cool stuff, I don't have the right shoes or the right clothing on for that, but I should be able to show you some of the basics."

"Sounds like a plan." Shinji said as they walked out of the small alleyway and onto the sidewalk.


	7. Pilots and Parkour

"So how'd you start doing parcore?" Shinji asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar word.

"'Parkour'." Motowa corrected automatically. "It's a French word. Anyway, like I said, my friends do it. I saw it as a good supplement to my gymnastics training, and it kind of snowballed from there. Aha, here's something I can demonstrate on." She said suddenly.

Shinji blinked. "Where?" He stopped and looked around to locate what Motowa was talking about, his eyes coming to rest on the railing that Motowa had grabbed with both hands.

"Here." Motowa said, slapping the metal once. "In addition to simply jumping off of things, parkour uses railings extensively. You can vault over them..."

Motowa swung sideways over the railing with a seemingly unnatural ease, landing without a sound facing the opposite direction. "Or jump on top of them and walk..."

Motowa used some leverage technique to curl into a ball and land on the railing, still holding onto it with her hands. "I'm not going to show you now, but I'm not too bad at walking around on railings. These shoes really don't work for parkour, you need cross-trainers. Like the ones you have on."

Shinji looked down at his well-worn running shoes. "Anyway, that's most of the stuff I can show you on railings without risking injury." She said, popping up like a spring and jumping backwards, doing a one-eighty in the air and landing almost soundlessly.

"That was very graceful." Shinji complimented as they resumed their walk towards the above-ground entry point to NERV.

"Thank you, I try to be." Motowa replied as they stopped at a traffic light.

Shinji looked across the street and saw that Rei was standing at the other side of the street. "Hey, there's Rei-chan." Motowa said.

Shinji blinked. Nobody had used that honorific with Rei's name, as far as he knew. He watched the light change, then walked across the street. "Hello, Ikari, Shimano."

Both teens were familiar with Rei's somewhat impersonal demeanor, and knew that her greeting was the equivalent of someone else's tackle-glomp. "Ohayo, Rei-chan!" Motowa said.

"Ohayo, Ayanami." Shinji followed.

Rei blinked at Shinji as she fell into step beside him, keeping him in the middle between her and Motowa. "If you wish, you may call me 'Rei-chan'." Rei said in her usual quiet tone.

"Oh. Um, thank you, Rei-chan." Shinji replied.

He wondered idly if he would have gotten the opportunity to call Rei that if he hadn't known Motowa, who seemed to be closer to Rei than most. _She hasn't had any friends that I know of, unless I count myself and Asuka._ Shinji thought. _I wonder how Motowa came to know Rei so well._ _I'll ask her later._

"Have a good day?" Motowa asked Rei.

To Shinji's surprise, Rei answered. "It was agreeable. I believe I scored 100 on the Trigonometry test." Rei said with a barely-noticeable hint of warmth in her voice.

"Wow, that's amazing Rei-chan!" Shinji said.

Rei turned to look at Shinji, who gulped at the sudden attention. He tried to read the impassive look on Rei's face, but couldn't. She spoke after looking at Shinji for a few more seconds. "It was not unexpected. Trigonometry is my best subject."

Rei looked ahead again, and Shinji wondered whether the First Child had simply informed Shinji of the facts, or whether she was offended by what Shinji said. _I never saw her mad... except when I insulted Gendo in front of her._ After a while, Shinji finally decided that Rei was just informing Shinji of the facts. She wasn't annoyed at him.

Motowa noticed how Shinji fell into an uncomfortable silence when Rei set her bottomless red eyes on him. _Don't worry, Shinji,_ Motowa thought with a mental smirk, _You'll get used to her eventually._ "There it is." Shinji said as the large white building bearing NERV's logo came into view.

"Aha, so there's where it is. It's actually not far from my house."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I live just over there. You see that bluish-colored apartment building over there?" Motowa pointed to a tall, thin building several blocks to the left of the NERV structure. "I live just a couple of houses down from that, in one of the bungalows surrounding it."

"'Bungalow'?" Shinji asked, unsure of the meaning of the word.

"It's a term for a one-story house." Motowa explained.

"Ah."

They reached the entrance to NERV headquarters and the two pilots automatically reached for their access cards. "I'll see you both at school tomorrow." Motowa said, stopping at the sidewalk while Rei and Shinji continued to walk towards the swipe stations.

"Bye, Motowa! See you tomorrow! Shinji turned around and waved, walking backwards for a few steps before turning around again.

"Goodbye, Motowa." Rei said simply without turning around.

Both pilots swiped their access cards at two of the stations in unison, and the doors hissed open to admit them into the building. Ibuki Maya was leaning against the wall, and when she saw who is was gaining entry to the building she pushed off of the wall and walked towards them. "Hello, Ibuki-san." Shinji said automatically.

"Hi, Shinji. I'm here to brief you a little on what to expect from this test you're about to take part in."

Shinji blinked. "It's not a simple harmonics test?"

Maya shook her head. "No. I would give you the lecture about how Eva technology needs to keep changing to better fight the angels, but Sempai will probably tell that to you herself."

"So what's different about this test?"

"It's-- oh, good timing, Asuka, you're just in time for the mini-briefing."

"Good, I wouldn't want to be left in the dark." Asuka said, striding confidently up to the two pilots and NERV technician.

The group started to walk to the long escalator that took them down to Central Dogma. "Anyway, like I was saying, this isn't a normal synch test. We're going to be monitoring all of the readings we normally do without the plugsuits giving us interference in the process. Also, you'll be testing a new autopilot system in the Pribnow Box, which will require an extensive decontamination process."

"Just what I wanted to do today, run around butt-naked after going through the wash cycle seventeen times..." Asuka said dryly as they continued their descent into the operating centre of NERV.

---

Yes, this is the "Liliputian Hitcher" episode. This is a bit of a turning point, as I've now intertwined Practice with the actual storyline. All it really means is that I now have to tiptoe around the plot of NGE a bit, but considering that I have around nine months to play with (according to Death and Rebirth, anyway) I should be fine for cramming a whole lot of Shinji/Motowa plot development into the series.

There may be changes in the Angel battles from now on, some of them may go exactly like they go in the anime, I'm not sure, but you can assume anything I haven't explicitly changed, hasn't changed.

Oh, and I'd like to thank the readers for making this my most popular fic of any I've published on or Guess that means I'm doing something right.


	8. A Confrontation Defused

"Jeez! I can't get out of here with no clothes on! Somebody help me fast!"

Shinji winced at the pitch and volume of Asuka's complaints, half of it distorted into almost pure static over the radio channel. "Calm down, I'm sure someone will be here to extract us soon..."

Shinji sat in silence for a second. "Rei? Are you alright?" He asked when he realized that he hadn't heard a word from Rei since her simulation-body's arm got blown off in the Pribnow Box.

It took fifteen seconds for Rei to respond, and when she did her voice sounded pained. "I will be fine, Pilot Ikari. Do not worry."

"O-ok, Rei, that's good to hear." Shinji said.

"I need a shower..." Asuka piped in again.

"After 'going through the wash cycle seventeen times'?" Shinji asked with a smirk.

"Baka! You know what I mean, I hate sitting in LCL." Shinji could hear the annoyed pout on Asuka's face without opening a visual feed, a move that would likely get him killed if he tried it.

"They're probably on their way right now." Shinji tried to reassure the fiery Second Child.

"You're right." Misato's voice suddenly sounded in all three entry plugs. "A jeep is coming with your plugsuits, so you won't have to worry about walking around NERV in the nude or anything."

"Plugsuits? Why don't they get us some actual clothing?" Asuka continued to grumble.

"Normal clothing is instantly ruined when LCL touches it, Asuka, you know that. I don't think your mood would be any better if you needed to go shopping for another yellow sundress." Misato said, referring to Asuka's favorite piece of clothing.

"Hmpf." Asuka said, crossing her arms.

---

Shinji buttoned up his white shirt, blinking as some water from his hair got into his eyes. He groped around for the towel that was on the bench in front of him, and when he found it wiped his eyes before toweling his hair off. He imagined Asuka still in the shower, furiously rubbing away at her hair to get the orange liquid out, and laughed. NERV's custom chemical shampoo worked a lot better than regular soap at neutralizing LCL, but it still took a lot of effort to fully cleanse oneself.

Shinji looked up and saw a figure leaning against the wall near the door. He had to blink a few times, getting the remaining water out of his vision, to identify who it was. "Hello, Hyuga-san." Shinji greeted Makoto.

"Hello." Makoto replied. "I'm just here to let you know that your dad wants to see you."

Shinji blinked hard. "He does? Did he say what about?"

Makoto shook his head. "This is third-hand information, Misato told me to pass it along. He's waiting for you in his office."

Without another word, Makoto turned and left, leaving Shinji distraught over why his father had a reason to speak with him. He hung up the towel on the rack near the wall and walked out the door in the direction of the elevator that led directly to Gendo's office.

_I wasn't even involved in this angel attack,_ Shinji thought as he walked,_ so it can't be that... maybe something showed up in what data they collected during my test? No, that would be something Ritsuko-san would talk to me about..._

Shinji was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the figure coming around the corner. He walked right into them and his train of thought derailed as he lost his balance and fell on his rear. The other person stumbled backwards, but stayed standing. "Sorry," Shinji said automatically before getting to his feet.

"Don't worry about it, I wasn't watching where I was walking either." Aoba Shigeru said as Shinji dusted himself off.

"Oh, hello, Aoba-san." Shinji said as he realized who he bumped into.

"Hello, Shinji. So why did you nearly run me over?" Aoba asked.

"Oh, uh, my father wants to see me and I have no idea why."

"Could it be that he wants to catch up on current events?" Hyuga said ironically, making Shinji's eyes darken with anger at Gendo's hands-off approach towards his son. "Okay, maybe not. From what I've heard from various rumours, mostly perpetuated by a certain redhead, you have a girlfriend." the rumour was confirmed by Shinji looking away and blushing, but he allowed the First Child to answer.

"You could call her that." Shinji said quietly.

"Her family name is Shimano, right?"

"Yeah, that's right... how did you know that?"

"The name of one of the lab technicians that died in the Second Impact was Shimano Roka. I know he was expecting a daughter, and he was going to name her Motowa. Maybe it has something to do with that."

"You think so?"

Aoba nodded. "A piece of advice: If he tells you anything you don't like, you're better off staying silent. He didn't become the head of NERV because of his looks, you know. If he says anything, you can be sure he truly believes what he says." Aoba gave Shinji a reassuring pat on the back. "Good luck." He said, and resumed walking.

Shinji began to walk towards the elevator again, even more agitated than before. _"If he tells you anything you don't like, you're better off staying silent."_ Aoba's words echoed in his mind. If it was about Motowa, he'd have a hard time containing his anger. Couldn't he leave alone something that made Shinji happy?

Shinji reached the end of the dead-end hallway and punched the button for the elevator. it opened instantly, which meant it was last used to transport someone down. _That means he's probably up there by himself._ He thought as he walked into the elevator. It closed automatically and began to rise without Shinji needing to press a button, this elevator only having two destinations: Gendo's office and the empty corridor the elevator was at the end of.

After a minor eternity and more than a few deep breaths by Shinji to calm himself down, the doors opened. Shinji walked out into the large office to where a large sunburst was drawn on the floor. Shinji knew that his father preferred people to stand there when he talked with them. "You wanted to see me, father?" Shinji asked expectantly.

Gendo hadn't moved a muscle since Shinji walked in the room, staring at him through his contrast-enhancing glasses. "Yes. I understand you are in a relationship."

"You could call it that." Shinji replied.

"The name of the girl is Shimano Motowa." It was not a question. "This is why I have called you here."

Shinji didn't change his expression, but he blanched nonetheless as Gendo continued. "I knew Motowa's father, Shimano Roka. He had a brilliant mind, but he was a loose cannon and I believe he was one of the reasons Second Impact was as devastating as it was. I have reasons to believe that Motowa is every bit like her father in that respect."

"Are you forbidding me from having a relationship with Motowa?" Shinji asked in a rare display of bravado.

Gendo was silent for a number of seconds, and Shinji wondered if he had said something to offend the commander. _His emotions are better guarded than Rei's are._ Shinji thought. "No, Shinji, I am not. However, I must stress this point to you: Do not let this relationship interfere with your role as Pilot of Unit 01. If you allow your judgment to be clouded, all we have worked for will be for nothing."

Shinji finally exhaled. He didn't know it, but he had been holding his breath in anticipation of the elder Ikari's response. "That is all, Shinji. You are dismissed."

"Hai." Shinji said simply, turning on his heel and walking towards the elevator.

He stopped about halfway there and turned around. "Sir? Shinji said hesitantly.

When it was clear that Gendo was awaiting something further, Shinji continued. "Thank you for letting me pursue this relationship."

Gendo said nothing but nodded once.

Shinji opened his mouth to say something further, a farewell of some kind, but he decided not to. He left the office without saying another word.

Behind his clasped hands, Gendo smirked, the kind of smile he reserved for when a plan was coming together.

"You see an opportunity." Fuyutsuki Kouzou said. Shinji hadn't noticed him standing behind and to the right of Gendo, not taking his eyes off his father until he turned to leave, but the Vice-Commander was standing there the whole time.

Gendo nodded. "He might be more willing to fight if he has something to fight for."

Fuyutsuki murmured an agreement as he turned to stare out the window. "He is willing to reconcile if you are willing."

"Now is not the time. It would hinder our efforts if I tried now. Perhaps when all this is over."

"Perhaps." Fuyutsuki echoed, watching Tokyo-3 return to it's normal state.


	9. Curly and Moe

"Ohayo, Misato-san!" Kensuke greeted as the Major opened the door.

"Ohayo, Kensuke-kun, Toji-kun." Misato said before turning and calling "Shinji!" over her shoulder.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Shinji said around a mouthful of something, and the sound of a chair being scraped across the floor could be heard.

"Take your time, Shin-man, we're not going anywhere." Toji called out.

Misato smirked at the boy's veiled attempt to stay in her presence some more. "So what's going on at school these days?" Misato said, making small talk.

"Just the same old stuff... Rumour has it there's a new student in our P.E. class." Toji answered.

"Oh? Who's that?"

"A gymnast, I think it was." Kensuke piped in. "What was her name... Shimano something or other."

"Shimano Motowa?" Misato asked, the smile on her face broadening with each passing second.

"That's it. How do you know her name?"

Shinji burst into the hallway at that moment, clutching his briefcase in one hand and still eating a piece of toast with the other. "I'll let Shinji explain that one to you." Misato said, shifting her gaze to Shinji.

Shinji stopped in mid-bite, the piece of toast hanging from his mouth. "Whhph?" He said.

"Don't worry about it, Shinji. Have a good day at school." Misato said, getting out of the doorway and squeezing by Shinji to head back to the kitchen.

"O-okay, 'bye, Misato." Shinji said in a wary tone before walking out the door. "What...?" Shinji began, turning his attention to the second and third parts of the Three Stooges.

"We're not exactly sure either." Toji said, casting a confused look in the general direction of the kitchen before Shinji closed the door.

The three turned and walked to the elevator. "You heard the rumour about the new student in our P.E. class?" Kensuke asked.

"No, who is it?" Shinji said.

"She's a gymnast, from what we've heard." Toji explained. "Her name is--"

"Shimano Motowa." Shinji finished, making the other two blink.

"Yeah, that's her. You know her?"

"You could say that." Shinji said with a smirk.

"So what's she like? Is she pretty?" Kensuke asked.

"Down, boy." Shinji teased. "Yeah, she's pretty. She almost looks like she's related to Misato."

Kensuke and Toji both raised their eyebrows. "Wow..." Kensuke said, hearts practically in his eyes already.

"I also have it on good authority that she's also taken." Shinji said, and watched Kensuke and Toji deflate like a balloon.

"Whose authority is that?" Toji asked.

"That would be mine." a familiar voice said in front of them.

Shinji looked ahead to see that Motowa was leaning against the wall beside the elevator. "And who are you?" Toji asked.

"The Shimano Motowa you're talking about." Motowa replied.

"...Oh. Hello, Shimano-san."

Shinji laughed. "You know, if you backpedal any faster you're going to go right through my apartment's door." He said, making Kensuke and Motowa laugh.

They all got into the elevator and Shinji, being the closest one to the panel, pressed the button for the ground floor. "So, go ahead and introduce me." Motowa said to Shinji.

"Huh? Oh, right... Motowa, this is Suzuhara Toji, and Aida Kensuke."

"Nice to meet you." They both chorused.

"Thanks, it's good to meet you two."

"Shinji's right, you do look like Misato-san." Kensuke commented.

"Motowa blinked. "Who's that?"

"Shinji's babe of a guardian." Toji piped up, earning a dark glare from the Third Child.

"Oh... um, thank you very much." Motowa said, a delicate blush coming across her features.

"Now look what you've done,

you've embarrassed her." Shinji said.

"No no, I'm not embarrassed..." Motowa reassured Shinji. "It's just that I'm not used to such compliments..."

"You're not? I was just thinking, you must get them all the time."

"No, back when I was in elementary school I was one of the biggest bully's favorite targets. He always used to call me the "ugly duckling", and everyone else started to as well..." Motowa trailed off, her eyes downcast.

_Oh, no... _Shinji thought. _That's why she reacted how she did when I told her she was beautiful in the practice room._ Shinji walked over to Motowa and wrapped her up in a hug. "It's alright, Motowa. The ugly duckling grew up into a beautiful swan... don't ever forget that."

Motowa nodded. "I know. I know... it's just hard sometimes to keep from dwelling on the past."

The ding of the elevator reaching its destination startled everyone in the elevator, and Shinji broke the embrace. The four walked out, Shinji giving Kensuke a withering look as he passed. "So," Shinji said, trying to change the subject, "shall we tell him who your boyfriend is?"

Motowa shook off the worst of her lapse into depression and laughed. "You mean you haven't yet? They must be dying of curiosity." She replied.

"Well, we didn't want to be rude." Toji said. "Do we know him?"

Shinji grinned like the cat that ate the canary while Motowa said "You could say that," glancing at Shinji.

Toji and Kensuke looked at Shinji, then at Motowa, then at Shinji again before their shoulders slumped in unison. "Oh, say it ain't so, Shinji!" Kensuke said.

Shinji mimed playing the violin, attempting to put on a soulful expression and failing miserably. "I'm afraid it is." He said.

"You're breaking my heart, Shin-man!" Toji said as they walked out of the lobby of the apartment building and onto the street.

"Better me than her." Shinji offered. "Wow, is it ever hot today."

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Motowa said, shielding her eyes with one hand while looking up at the sky.

"You _like_ weather this hot?" Toji said, already wilting under the harsh glare of the sun. "It must be forty degrees out!"

"Ah, a little sunlight never hurt anyone."

"Except skin cancer victims." Kensuke muttered to himself.

"So get a parasol. Vitamin D's good for you, you know. Oh, speaking of outside, Shinji, since I've got my gym uniform with me, I can show you some of the finer points of parkour after school."

"Per what?" Toji asked confusedly.

"Parkour. It's..." Motowa thought about how to explain to Toji and Kensuke, and for that matter, Shinji, what parkour was. "...something you kind have to see to understand."

"Sure, I have nothing to do after school today." Shinji said.

"You're welcome to come and watch as well." Motowa offered Toji and Kensuke.

"Sure..." Kensuke said warily, not exactly sure what he was agreeing to.

"I've got nothing better to do." Toji added.

"Great." Motowa said, a little eager to show off her athleticism. "So--er, um, never mind, I forgot I was transfered into your P.E. class last period today to we don't need to arrange to meet anywhere."

"Right." Shinji said, only just realizing that point himself. "So what kind of stuff do you do when you do parkour?" Shinji asked, knowing that it would give Motowa a chance to enlighten the Three Stooges on what parkour was without sounding like she was bragging.

"I'd thought you'd never ask." Motowa said with a grin. "Where to begin..."

---

Thanks to JErosion for reminding me that these two exist.

Thanks also to darkfriend for planting an idea in my head that will eventually shape most of the series that moves parallel to the anime plotline. Your point about Shinji's state of mind is a very good one, one that I hadn't even considered until I read it.

And finally, thanks to the readers for putting this fanfic over the 5,000-hit mark. You like me! You really like me!

Alright, I'll stop hamming it up and get to work on Chapter 10, tenatively titled "Pilots and Parkour II".


	10. Look Before You Leap

"Okay, you've dragged us all the way out to this park..." Toji said as they walked down a path in a park a couple of blocks away from Motowa's house.

"Patience, grasshopper, and all will be revealed in time." Motowa said with a wink as she stopped at an arbitrary point on the path and gestured to the park as a whole. "Look around. What do you see?"

Shinji blinked. "Uh, all I see is an ordinary park." He said, grateful that he could get his mouth to work. "A pair of Gazebos here, a raised concrete area here..."

He was quickly driven to distraction by Motowa's gym uniform, which hugged every curve of her body. His mind more than a few times went back to the Practice Room incident, and more than a few times he had to intentionally derail his train of thought.

"Ah, but there is more to it than that." Motowa said as she resumed walking, this time to a long spiral ramp.

It was broken up into four segments, and connected to a medium-sized concrete section about six meters off the ground. "Once you get into parkour, or PK'ing, you learn to recognize places to vault, or jump, or climb, very easily. Now, when you see this ramp, the only way you can see to get up it is the way it was intended, to walk up the ramp, right?"

Shinji cleared his throat. "I see another way, probably what you're going to demonstrate. You can probably climb up the middle of the spiral using the rails as handholds."

A twinkle appeared in Motowa's eye. "Exactly."

Motowa turned to face the railing and said "I bet, however, you didn't think of me jumping over this rail to get to the middle section."

"Nope." Shinji said.

"That's the second thing you learn to do, string individual stuff into runs."

Motowa grabbed a hold of the rail and jumped up onto it, balancing, and inadvertantly gave Kensuke a nosebleed. After appraising the jump almost like a cat would, she jumped, grabbing onto the rail with her hands and hitting the lower rail with her feet. She climbed up onto the second rail, and used the floor of the higher level to balance herself as she turned around. Grabbing hold of the lower railing, she jumped and brought her legs up, able to wedge her feet between the lower rail and the concrete floor. This brought her out of view of the three spectators. "Normally," Motowa said, "This would be called a 'cat' position, except for the fact that I have a foothold." Motowa's voice called out before the thud of her shoes hitting concrete rang out again, Motowa vaulting over the rail she was hanging off of. "That patch of grass to your left clear?"

Shinji looked left. "All clear, Motowa..." He started, "...but what are you... hey, wait!" He yelled as he could hear Motowa run across the ramp.

Motowa launched herself up and over the railing, doing one front flip before setting up for the landing on the grass below. She landed a good five or six meters away from the concrete and rolled, turning around in the process and coming to a stop another meter away, facing the concrete structure and the Three Stooges.

"How--what--the--and--" Shinji stuttered, unable to fully comprehend that he just saw that.

As if some signal was given, the three of them started to clap for Motowa, who bowed in response. "Thank you." She said, beginning to blush.

"How did you learn to do that?" Shinji asked as Motowa walked back to the group.

"Well, it took a long time to learn, believe me." Motowa said. "But there's a lot of easy stuff you can learn almost right away, like that little vault maneuver I showed you."

---

Motowa spent a good three or four hours showing Shinji and Kensuke some of the basic parkour techniques. Toji said that he had a prior engagement and left after about an hour. "Well, this has been fun, but I think it's time I headed in." Motowa said.

"Sounds good, after all it's--" Shinji checked his watch and blinked. "Wow, it's almost seven."

"Yeah, time flies when you're having fun." Motowa said.

"Especially when it's with someone you really enjoy being with." Shinji said on impulse.

"Aww, that's so sweet..." Motowa wrapped Shinji up in a hug.

Kensuke coughed behind the two affectionate teens, prompting them to break the embrace. "Um, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, Motowa." Shinji said, trying not to show how awkward the situation had ended up.

"Yep. See you then. 'Bye, Kensuke-kun." Motowa returned, turning and walking towards one side of the park.

"Bye." Kensuke said as he walked with Shinji back to the street they got to the park from.

"What?" Shinji said as he caught Kensuke smirking at him. "_What?_"

"You're falling harder than your Eva, you know that?" Kensuke said with a laugh, referencing the battle where Unit 01 landed from a particularly nasty blow right beside Kensuke and Toji.

"No I'm not." Shinji lied, which only made Kensuke laugh harder.

"You are! And let me be the first one to say two things. Congrats on landing a babe like that, and I'm terribly, terribly sorry for your loss of freedom."

This time, it was Shinji's turn to laugh. "That's all well and good to say you're sorry, Kensuke, but from what I've known of Motowa, she's not the controlling type."

"No guy ever says that about their girlfriend, you know that. The female of the species always get the guy to _want_ to do things for the girl."

"That's what love is." Shinji said, slipping onto a philosophical mood.

"If that's love, man, I'm never getting dragged in to that."

"Set a coin down on a table and see one side, and you assume the other is the same."

"Huh?" Kensuke said, thoroughly confused at Shinji's sudden mood shift.

"You assume that I get nothing out of my relationship with Motowa." Shinji explained.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't see you getting much out of your relationship." Kensuke said.

Shinji gave a slightly cold stare to Kensuke. _Whoa._ Kensuke thought, suddenly breaking out in a cold sweat. _He's related to Gendo, alright._ "I am happy." Shinji said in a tone that his father indeed used many times. "That is enough for now."

"Jees, don't do that." Kensuke said, shuddering, as they walked across the street to make their way to the nearest familiar landmark, NERV's Central Dogma access structure. "You scare me sometimes, you know that?"

---

I don't know, this chapter seems a little unlike the other ones I've written. I look forward to seeing the reviews for this chapter.


	11. Mourning and Condolences

"It's been three years since we've come here together."

Shinji felt his ears involuntarily twitch at his father's voice, but otherwise didn't move. He was on one knee at his mother's grave, one hand still on the bouquet of flowers he had just laid there. "I ran away then, and haven't been back since. It just hasn't sunk in that Mother is resting here." A small pause, then: "I don't even remember her face."

"Man survives by forgetting his memories, but there are some things a man should never forget." Gendo replied. "Yui taught me about the irreplaceable things." Motowa's image flashed in Shinji's mind, derailing his train of thought. "I come here to confirm that."

Shinji said nothing, trying to comprehend how his mind had reacted to the Commander's statement. _Do I care that much about her?_ Shinji asked himself. _Yes, I do._

A thought occurred to Shinji. "You have no pictures of her?" Idly, he heard the whirring of a NERV helicopter in the distance.

"There are none left. This grave is just a decoration too. There is no corpse."

"So the teacher was right. You threw them all away."

Gendo stared into the sea of graves around him. "I keep everything in my heart. That is enough for now."

The helicopter landed on a strip of barren land, and Gendo turned to leave. "It's time. I'm leaving."

"Father!" Shinji called out on impulse.

Gendo turned back to look at his son. "Uh, I'm glad I got to talk to you today."

"Indeed." The commander turned back to the helicopter and got in through the side hatch.

The helicopter ramped up the power again, lifting off and moving into the distance. Shinji watched it for a while, then turned to leave.

---

---

---

I watch the desert landscape turn into the grassier expanse of Tokyo-3's borders as the NERV transport bus takes me back to the Central Dogma access building. I don't know what to make of my father. He seems normal enough, but does he always have to guard his emotions so well? Can he not show feeling to anyone? Not even his son?

My mind flashes back to when my father was leaving. Rei-chan was there. Rei... you guard your emotions too. Is it because you are around my father so much? And what does it take to slip past the masks and see the real you?

Motowa knows. She has been able to find a crack in your armour and get to know you, well enough for you to talk to her. I wonder if it was simply time, or something else that got Rei to open up to her?

I would have had a hard time opening up to Motowa, had the thing in the Practice Room not happened. I doubt I would have met Motowa, for that matter. I reflect back on that as buildings start to appear near the road. It's a good thing I met her. I don't know what I would do without someone I can enjoy being in the company of, as a friend and as a girlfriend.

The bus turns a corner and slows. "We have arrived at Central Dogma. The time is 7:06. All passengers, please exit."

I look around, an ironic smile on my face. I'm the only one on the bus. Sighing, I get up out of my seat and go out the front doors, coming to a stop at the card swipe stations. Behind me, the doors close and the bus accelerate, moving to wherever its garage is. _I could use someone to talk to. _I think as I start walking.

Before I even realize where I'm walking to, I'm at the park Motowa had shown me. I look around for her, and spot a figure jumping off of rails and picnic tables at one of the gazebos off in the distance. As they come into the sun, I can see a flash of amber hair. _That's Motowa. _I think, my spirits beginning to lift already.

I walk up to the gazebo in silence, going up the steps as I watch Motowa go through a run. She gets a running start on the floor before jumping off of the picnic table that had been moved right near the railed edge of the pavilion. She aims for just to the right of a vertical support pole, grabbing it as she flies past and using her momentum to swing around. She lands facing me, standing on the railing, but doesn't see me as her attention was focused on the next step in her run. She jumps and does a half-somersault in the air, completing the revolution on the picnic table. However, she misjudged how long the table was, and her momentum makes her legs land on the ground as her momentum continues to make her rotate. I act quickly, running towards Motowa.

Sliding on my knees, I extend my arms to catch her, the orange-haired girl falling into me instead of faceplanting on the hardwood floor. Neither one of us moved for a few moments, before Motowa finally said "This better be Ikari Shinji's lap I'm in." Her voice was muffled.

"And if it isn't?" I ask mirthfully.

"Then I'd like to know why my face is pressed up against a total stranger's crotch and why their hands are on my breasts." She said darkly, and I can feel myself blush like crazy upon realizing why Motowa's voice was muffled.

I use what limited upper-arm strength I possess to quickly push Motowa upwards, letting her get to her feet again. "Thanks for catching me, Shinji, but did you have to do it in such a compromising way?" Motowa said, dusting herself off with one hand and extending a hand to help me to my feet.

"Um, I didn't have much time to think about that." I admit sheepishly.

Motowa shook his head. "No harm, no foul. Thank you for saving me from having to peel myself off of the ground."

"Well, I couldn't let anything happen to a face like yours." I say on impulse, knowing how well Motowa takes compliments.

"Flatterer." Motowa says, blushing.

"Just an observer." I respond.

Motowa leans forward and presses her lips to mine, sending small sparks through me. I return the kiss, my arms coming up to wrap around her. Some small part of me recognizes the gesture as one of protection just as it is one of love.

Motowa pulls back slightly after a while, a warm smile on her face. "You really know how to make me feel special, you know that?" She whispers.

"I try." I reply, my hands falling to my sides.

My father's words echo in my mind. _Yui taught me about the irreplaceable things. _My expression darkens a shade as I think more about the commander of NERV, and Motowa picks up on my change in mood. "Shinji? What's wrong?" She asks.

"I saw my father today." I reply. "We went to see my mother's grave. It's the first time in three years I've gone." My mood darkens further.

Motowa pressed herself closer to me, wrapping me up in a comforting hug. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's alright. I never really knew my mother. She died when I was very little."

"I don't like seeing you like this, Shinji." Motowa whispers in my ear.

"I don't like being like this either." I reply, beginning to grow more and more upset with each passing second. "Having to pilot Eva weighs on me. Being so distant from my father weighs on me. Always feeling like people only talk to me because I save the world every other week--"

"Stop it." Motowa said softly, and despite my barely hearing it, it has a profound effect on me.

I fall into an uneasy silence. "I don't want you to think that I care about you just because you go out and be the hero. I didn't even know who you were when I met you, but I did see someone who was smart and funny and caring. I care about you because you're you, not because you're the Third Child."

Motowa paused and pulled back, and as I stare into her eyes I notice they're beginning to overflow. "I won't ever forget that." I promise, feeling some of my emotional walls start to break down. "It's just that I've never really had someone who cares about me like you do."

"Well, I'm going to make it count." Motowa said resolutely.

I look into Motowa's eyes, seeing the sincerity in them. "Thank you..." I manage, my voice barely above a whisper as a single tear falls.

Motowa smiles at me again, lifting my spirit once again. "You're welcome." She sniffles once and wipes her eyes, trying to regain some composure. "So that's why you didn't go to school, huh?" Motowa said. "You know, I was all by myself during your Music class last period today."

I smirk as I recognize the hook in the bait offered to me, and decide to chomp down on it. "I'm sure you were able to occupy your time well enough."

"Actually, I was quite bored..." Motowa said, stretching.

I'm momentarily distracted by the fact that her gym shirt is being pulled up by her movements, exposing her navel. Her eyes close as she yawns, and so she doesn't catch the shift in attention. "...I was kind of hoping you could give me a hand..." She says nonchalantly.

She opens one eye as she finishes stretching and proceeds to burst out laughing at my expression. "Calm down, Shinji, I was joking..." She says. "If you keep blushing like that, I think you'll wind up hurting something."

"I can't quite help it." My face feels like it's on fire.

Motowa laughed again. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Just be thankful that I don't have a weak heart." I reply.

"I'm thankful, alright. I make one little sex joke to my boyfriend and then I have to bury him. Doesn't rank too high on my list of fantasies."

"You know, I don't think it's quite right to call us boyfriend and girlfriend... for one, we haven't even gone out on a date yet."

Motowa thought for a second. "You doing anything tonight?"

"Nope, I was just going to stay in." I reply.

"How would you like to come over for dinner tonight, then?"

"I thought it was my job to ask you out on a date."

"I got impatient." Motowa smirked.

I nod. "Tonight it is. I was just going to stay in tonight anyway." I glance at my watch. "Er... it's half-past five already."

"What? It is?" Motowa said. "Wow, I'm cutting this a bit close, then... We should get going, dinner's usually at around 6:30 and mom doesn't have trouble cooking for more than just her and I, but not if she doesn't know it."

I smile as I walk with Motowa through the park towards her house. "Um, do you know if there's a pay phone on the way?" I ask as a thought occurs to me.

"Yep, there's one on the corner across the street." She says, pointing to a booth.

"Good. I doubt there'll be any problems, but I do need to check in." Shinji said, idly wondering if today was going to have any respite from the torrent of emotions bearing down on him, both good and bad.

---

Wow, this took a long time to write. Sorry for not updating sooner, but I've been rotating between the four media I work in (Music, Text, Picture and Video) quite a lot.

So is this it? Will Shinji finally get some next chapter? Will Asuka stand the prospect of being alone in the apartment all night?

Gimme a few days.

Oh, and if you're a Sailor Moon fanfiction fan, you might recognize one of the lines Motowa says to Shinji, and Shinji's reply, as being from chapter 1 of Sailor Moon V: The Dark Adventures of the Sailor Scouts, by Troy "Silver" Stanton. It's one of my favorite lines from that fic.

Okay, now here's my excuse for Kensuke: He's the war guy. He's half-obsessed with getting into NERV. I figure if he can know about Unit 03, which Shinji didn't even know, he can know about the Commander's personality, which is far from classified info.


	12. A Date He Will Never Forget

Shinji and Motowa walked in relative silence for a while. "Nervous?" Motowa asked.

Shinji didn't immediately hear her, having had a deep unease take up residence in his mind almost immediately after they started walking to the bungalow. _Mustn't run away... mustn't run away... mustn't run away..._ "Yes, a little."

"Don't worry, mom's just like me. Really."

That did a little to assuage Shinji's fears, but not enough to make him completely at ease as he walked with Motowa. He focused on the pleasant sensation of holding Motowa's hand to calm himself down. _This is nice._ He thought, trying to push the irrational fear he was experiencing away and being mostly successful. "That's good to hear."

---

Asuka slammed the phone down after listening to Shinji tell her that she would be alone tonight. "Wunderkind Shinji is out on a date and I have to stay in?"

Asuka picked up the phone and dialed. _I'm sure Hikari wouldn't mind some companionship today. _"Hi, this is the Horaki family residence." Hikari's voice said in a tinny recording that was nonetheless very cheerful, making Asuka growl with annoyance. "We can't come to the phone right now, so please leave a message and we'll get back to you!"

Asuka hit the button to close the connection and slammed the phone back down in his holster. "Fine, I don't need anyone to have a good time!" Asuka said.

Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, she hastily scribbled down a note that she was out, even though she knew she would probably be back before everyone else. Not wanting to waste another second, she slipped her shoes on and left the apartment.

---

"Tadaima!" I say as I walk in the door, Shinji in tow.

"Hi, Motowa!" Mom says from the kitchen.

After a second, she appears from the doorway, and Shinji's eyes go wide. "Something the matter, Shinji?" Mom asks, upon noticing Shinji's expression.

"Um, no, not really... you look exactly like my guardian, Misato."

"Really? I've always wanted to have a long-lost sister."

Shinji laughed. "Please forgive mom's sense of humour, it's a lot weirder than most people's." I say in a mock-respectful tone.

"Nah, it's not that weird."

"So, you're Shinji, are you?" Mom says. "I've heard a lot about your father."

"You have?"

"Sure. Roka worked quite closely with Gendo before the Second Impact. He was very hard-working, if a bit hard-lined."

Shinji nodded. "He hasn't changed a bit." _For worse or better,_ I can almost hear Shinji thinking as an aside to himself.

"That's good to hear." Mom says, walking back into the kitchen.

"So, shall I give you the grand tour?" I ask Shinji.

"Sure." Shinji says, turning left and following me into the living room.

"This the living room... couch, TV, everything..." I sweep my arm across the room, as if it was anything of great importance. "And if you'll follow me, I'll show you my room, 'cause that's where I'm going."

"Lead on." Shinji says, following me through to the back of the house. "Wow, it's much cooler back here."

"Yeah, that tends to happen for some reason, whether someone's cooking in the kitchen or not." I say, sliding my door open and walking through it. "Forgive the minor mess, I wasn't expecting company."

"No, no, it's fine... I have to deal with Misato-san's legendary lack of cleaning skills."

"Ah, so you're the maid of the family, are you?"

"I wouldn't call it a family, really. More... an arrangement. Asuka, Misato and I aren't related."

"Call it a clan, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."

"I suppose that's true... you know a lot of quotes."

"I read a lot. Have to keep the mind sharp, you know."

"I do."

I walk over to my futon and pick up the remote that was on it. "What do you want to hear?" I motion to my stereo.

"Huh? Oh... um, what's in there now?"

"Mezzanine, by Massive Attack. It's that psychedelic rock band I bought with _Planets_."

"I don't mind listening to that."

I turn on the stereo and it whirrs to life, clicking and sputtering as it gets ready to play. Suddenly, a song cuts in somewhere towards the middle. "--know we sever lines..." a lyric comes in on the speakers.

"Whoops." I say, pressing a button. "Didn't rewind it. Ah well, I'll just restart from the beginning of this track."

"...You can do that with SDAT tapes?" Shinji asks.

"This is one of the newer-model stereos. It looks for the silence in-between tracks and guesses where to make the splits. It's good when there isn't any lead-ins between tracks on its own, and you can also set splits in tracks yourself."

The tape finishes rewinding and the player clicks into play mode. What sounds like wolves howling fades in for a second before a bassline starts up.

"Did I miss anything in P.E. today?" Shinji asks suddenly.

"Not a lot... just the usual running and the like."

"Oh, ok."

The somewhat weak attempt at small talk fades into a semi-comfortable silence as the lyrics come in on the song. "I see you go down to a cold mirror... It was never clearer in my error, so..." The lead sings.

I close my eyes and nod to the beat, my body swaying side-to-side. This song, Risingson, is one of the best songs on the album, and it always seems to put me into a trance as I listen to it.

The silence between me and Shinji persists for about thirty seconds before I feel his hand come up to trace the outline of my jaw. I open my eyes to look at him, and see nothing but love in his eyes. "You're beautiful, you know that?" He says softly.

"I'm sure you'll remind me often enough." I reply as he moves forward.

His lips meet mine seemingly in time with the song, and sparks shoot through me, like they always do when he kisses me. His arms slide around my waist, and mine come up to cross at the back of his neck, resting on his shoulders. We stand there and kiss for what seems like forever, through the current song and the next, nearly completely oblivious to our surroundings.

...That is, until a knock on the door makes us both freeze in our tracks. We finally break free of our embrace. "Yes, mom?" I call out.

Mom slides open the door, a sad expression on her face. "Shinji? You have a roommate named Asuka, don't you?"

Shinji blinks at the mention of the name. "Yes..." he replies slowly. "Why?"

"I just got a call from your workplace, NERV. Asuka's been in an accident. They say she's got a severe head injury and possibly a broken neck."

I watch all the color drain from Shinji's face almost instantly. "What...?"

"They said they were sending someone to pick you up as soon as they can."

"O-ok..." Shinji replies, and I can start to see the emotion bubble up inside him.

"Shinji?" I ask. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I don't think it's me you have to be worried about..."

---

I can't believe I'm doing this... welcome to the Butterfly Effect, ladies and gentlemen.

Half of the reason that I took so long to update was because I was warring against myself about how to continue everything along. Now that I've committed to this storyline, I expect to have a new chapter out fairly soon.


	13. Imaginary red

Asuka stormed out of the apartment complex and headed in the direction of an arcade. _So what if nobody else is around? I can have fun all by myself! Who knows, I might even meet someone!_ She thought as she strode down the street, still in somewhat of a rage.

As she walked, she started to calm down. She sighed as she stopped and waited for a light to change. _I wonder what Shinji-baka is doing right now... probably something perverted. _The light changed and she started walking again.

She walked for a long time, finally coming to a stop as she realized that she had been running on autopilot and didn't know exactly where she was. She looked around for a sign, and when she found one she blinked. "I've walked this far? I'm on the other side of Tokyo-3!"

_So what are my options?_ Asuka thought, already switching to military mode and viewing the situation from as far back as she could. _Do I have enough cash for a cab? No, it's expensive as hell... Is there something around here to do?_

Asuka took a glance at some of the shops around and swore vividly in her head. _I'm in the verdammt business section! scheiße! Okay, there has to be a transit station around here somewhere..._

Concentrating on a mental map she had of Tokyo-3, she tried to figure out where the nearest one would be. She blinked as she turned around to find that she was already at the entrance to the train station. Slapping her forehead, she walked into the station...

...And was greeted by about twenty people standing on the wrong side of the wickets, looking annoyed and dejected. "_Was ist los_?" Asuka said to nobody in particular, still stressed enough to revert back to her native language.

A man, presumably someone who worked for the city, approached Asuka. "Excuse me, miss, but do you speak Japanese?" He asked in Japanese.

"Hai, hai." Asuka said annoyedly, switching back to the official language of the country she was currently in. "Why is everyone standing around out here?"

"We are experiencing a technical problem with one of the trains. It has stopped in the middle of the tunnel at a track crossing, and is unable to move until we fix a minor electrical fault. We apologize greatly for the delay."

"How long until this electrical fault is fixed?" Asuka asked, hoping it would be quick enough that she didn't have to choose between a long walk and a long wait.

"It should be fixed within an hour."

"An hour! _Verdammt Scheiße!"_ Asuka swore.

"Again, we apologize deeply."

Asuka sighed. "I know, not your fault." _Doesn't mean I'm going to like it. _She added in her mind.

She left the station without saying another word.

---

The drive to the Central Dogma access structure was painfully drawn out, even though it only lasted about five minutes. Shinji was becoming more and more worried. _I hope she makes it._ Shinji thought to himself as he watched the landscape go by from his window. _Not only for her sake, but for the sake of the planet._ He knew that there were times when Unit 02 was a big supplement to an Angel operation, if not an irreplaceable part. To lose Asuka's ability would be devastating.

_No,_ Shinji thought, shaking himself out of that train of thought, _I shouldn't think like that. That's too selfish._

Despite all the bickering and insults slung in Shinji's direction, the Third Child could remember moments he actually enjoyed in the Second's company. They weren't too frequent, but they were there. And now they were... _No, she's not dead. She's hurt, badly, but she's not dead._

The car stopped and Shinji got out, his sense of dread deepening with every step he took. He walked with the two Section Two agents to the gates and beyond, a thousand questions buzzing around in his head.

---

Asuka walked down the street, still fuming over not being able to get home by train. The whole line was shut down for the hour, and guess what was the only route to the station closest to the apartment?

Off in the distance to Asuka's right, she could hear a loud rock song playing from a car speaker, almost drowning out the sound of sirens. She looked up at the light -- green. She started walking across the street.

The sirens and rock music were getting louder and louder by the minute, and Asuka glanced to her right and saw a red sports car blazing up the street towards the intersection she was crossing, swerving wildly.

She was in the middle of the intersection, she had no chance to get to the other side before the car got to her. She started running for one side, but the car swerved towards her.

She barely had time to scream, but she did, almost at the same time as she was shoved hard from behind. She didn't even have time to put up her arms to soften the blow before the concrete of the corner of the sidewalk came up to meet her.

---

Shinji walked down the corridor of the medical ward, flanked by the two Section Two bodyguards. They got to a room and one of them peered into the glass window in the door. "She's in there, but there are doctors swarming over her." He said.

Shinji tried to remember his name, he gave it when he met Shinji outside Motowa's. It was an odd name, as he was of German descent, having been transfered to the Tokyo-3 branch of NERV with Unit 02. _Kain... Kast... Karl, that's it._

The second man -- his name was Lin -- nodded and moved to the wall on the far side of the door, his back leaning against it. Karl took a seat on one of the row of chairs on the near side of the door, and Shinji sat down a few seats away.

---

---

---

_"Mmmnnmgn..."_

_The N2 mine in my brain is gradually fading down to a dull roar as I awake. My eyes seem glued shut, and so without opening them I try to get to my feet. As soon as my head moves I become overcome with a wave of dizziness and can do little more than roll over. After about five seconds, I try to sit up, with largely the same result._

_I give up on that for the time being and focus on what I feel. My head is screaming at me, so most of my sense of touch is dulled... I shift, and realize that I'm lying on grass. I focus on my hearing next, and realize exactly how quiet it is here... wherever here is. No traffic, no ambient noise... no talking... not even any wind. _I'm not in Tokyo-3 anymore._ I think._

_This is further confirmed by my sense of smell. The air doesn't smell like it does in Tokyo-3. It smells... clean. Almost too clean._

_This brings me to my sense of sight. Noting that my migraine is almost gone, I try to open my eyes. They come apart with some effort, and I'm greeted with an infinite plane of purple. This causes my eyes to widen in surprise, and I try to sit up again. The dizziness returns, but I'm able to fight through it and sit up. I steady myself with my hands as I look around._

_The green I was expecting the grass to be is instead a sky blue, giving me the impression, almost, that I'm upside-down. In the distance, the horizon has little origami flowers sticking up out of it, as if this was an area in a video game. I look for the sun -- a sun -- and see that there isn't any. The sky is illuminating everything, even though it's white light. _That's not right. Light doesn't just come from nowhere._ I think._

_It looks like it's drizzling, but there are no discernible clouds in the air. The purple sky is too even to just be overcast. If I follow a raindrop on its way to the ground, I can see that it's refracting some point of light into a rainbow, and it apparently evaporates about two meters above the ground._

_The only other object I can see -- besides myself -- is a large tree on top of a very shallow hill, just barely one meter above the perfectly flat stretch of grass in all directions. I should probably get to that tree, if only to give me something to lean against._

_I just now notice a buzzing sensation in my neck. I bring my hand up to rub my neck, and I realize my neck is covered in some sort of dried, crusted-over liquid. I bring my hand in front of my face and blink as I see flecks of dried blood. I touch my neck again, looking for the source of the wound, and find it under my chin and to the left. _I wonder how I got that.

_I check the rest of my body for any other injuries. Apparently, I also have a cut on my forehead, bad scapes along the top of both my arms, a slash just above my right breast, and my knees are scraped up badly. And there's this damn dizziness. I try to get to my feet, and I'm moderately successful. I half-drag myself towards the tree. Looking back, I note there isn't any dried pools of blood around the slight indentation in the grass where I woke up, so I was definitely moved from where I got these injuries._

_The trip -- all twenty meters of it -- wasn't painful at all. I'd have thought my various injuries would all be screaming at me, but none of them are. they're just... it's as if the pain center of my brain has shut down, and I can't feel pain at all. Instead, the feeling that replaces the pain is a buzzing feeling. As I descend again to the ground, only partly controllably, the question that should have hit me like a ton of bricks finally makes itself known in my mind._

_Where am I?_

_---_

_---_

_---_

The door opens and all three males immediately got to their feet again. "How is she?" Karl asked, stressed enough to revert back to his native German. Shinji repeated the same question in Japanese.

"It's not looking good, I'm afraid. Asuka does indeed have a broken neck... and what looks like a severed spinal cord. She also has a moderate concussion. I'm afraid that when... if... she awakens, she'll probably end up paralyzed from the neck down."

Shinji was the first to react, slumping back down into the nearest seat. Karl ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head. Lin didn't outwardly respond, other than his eyes showing a deep sadness.

"So... is she a vegetable?" Karl asked after a long pause.

"Well, that's the good news, she does show brain activity. But what's worrying most of us is that the brain activity is too much for someone in a comatose state. It's as if she's awake, if you trust the readings."

"What? What does that mean?"

"That's the worrying part, we don't know. We've never seen it before. All I can say for sure is, Asuka is never going to be the same again."

---

Yeah.

Another battle waged as I war with myself again over how severe to make Asuka's injuries, to simply shake her up or kill her instantly. I ended up with this.

The Asuka scene takes place in the Imaginary universe, created in Yamato Gun IV. Other random things have been stolen from other places, too -- points if you can guess where the bodyguards were taken from.

Okay then. Not sure where to go from here, but after I get a good connector scene, I've had the next few chapters planned out since I decided to make this fic an alternate universe.

Hope everyone likes the derailing of the series plot.

If you want to see what might be up next, remember where in the series we are and what comes next. Just because everything's different doesn't mean _everything_ is different.


	14. Depression Split

"Shinji?"

The Third Child heard Misato through the music in his SDAT player -- _The Rite of Spring_ -- but didn't acknowledge it. He was lying on his bed, facing the wall, his back to the door. Misato's outline was visible to him, the light from the hallway much brighter than Shinji's Lovely Unlit Suite.

She stood there for goodness knows how long -- it could have been seconds, it could have been days. Shinji didn't care. A distant part of him wondered why he took the Second's near-death so hard, and he attempted to think about that for a while before giving up. He couldn't even hold a coherent thought in his head at that moment.

Misato finally sighed in resignation and closed the door. That had been the third time Shinji had ignored her. He had no appetite. He barely slept, or moved for that matter. He was a wreck.

There was a chime as the doorbell was rung. Shinji could hear fading footsteps as Misato walked to the door to answer it.

"Shinji?"

It was Misato again, hoping that maybe she could invoke a response the fourth time. When he didn't answer, Misato continued. "There's someone here to see you."

Shinji saw someone walk into his room and shut the door behind him. "Hey, Shinji." It was Motowa.

Shinji felt a weight settle on his bed as Motowa sat down. "Um, you haven't been to class lately, so I brought you the work you missed... Oh, who am I kidding, Shinji, I came here because you need help. You've been like this since the last time you saw Asuka, and it kills me to see you in this much pain."

Shinji felt even more pain at the realization that he was hurting everyone around him as well. "You can't just stay like this forever, you have to face the world. It misses you. Toji, Kensuke, Hikari, everyone from your class misses you." Motowa's voice was cracking. "I miss you."

Shinji finally turned onto his back to look at Motowa. Through the dim light, he could see her pained face, the tears in her eyes. "You don't know how much I missed being able to talk with you these last four days."

An emotional wall Shinji didn't even know he had broke at the look on Motowa's face. "I-I'm sorry, Motowa..." he said, sitting up and wrapping his arms around her. "I'm sorry." He repeated in a whisper, tears starting to fall from his own eyes. _She cares._ Shinji thought. _She really cares._

Motowa mimicked the gesture, hugging Shinji tight to her. "Don't be sorry... just come back to us, Shinji. There are a lot of people that love you, and you're deceiving yourself if you think it'll be easier to avoid them. You need them, and they need you."

They sat like that for a long time, until their tears had run out. Motowa pulled back to stare into Shinji's eyes. "Motowa... thank you."

"Hey, I don't mind. What's a girlfriend for, if not emotional support?"

Shinji laughed, something he couldn't have even considered doing a few minutes ago. "I've got to go, I wasn't planning on staying long, but I'm glad to see you're feeling better." Motowa got up.

"You're not staying?"

"'O fortune, fortune, all men call thee fickle.'"

"Romeo and Juliet?" Shinji guessed.

"Act three, scene five." Motowa replied.

"You were always good with quotes."

"Thank you." Motowa walked to the door. "I meant everything I said, you know."

"I know. Thank you for saying it."

"See you in school tomorrow." Motowa said, sounding more like a command than an expectation.

Shinji chuckled. "Yeah, I'll be there."

Motowa left, sliding the door closed behind her. Shinji fell back again, suddenly aware of how little he'd slept. He closed his eyes, and for the first time in days, fell into a relatively peaceful sleep.

---

"_Mmmnnmgn..._"

Shinji groggily regained consciousness, having to squint in the blue-tinted light of NERV's hospital ward. He could dimly recall how he got here, the Sea of Dirac Angel and his mathematically impossible escape from it. He heard the shift of fabric to his left and tilted his head to look at the source of the noise, Ayanami Rei sitting beside his bed. When he realized that, he sat up. "You can just rest today. We'll take care of everything." She said.

Shinji was used to Rei's lack of preamble by now. "But I'm fine now."

"Well, that's good for you."

A sense of déjà vu hit Shinji so hard that it hurt. _That's exactly what Mother said in..._ Shinji paused when he realized that he didn't know exactly what to call it. Was it a dream? A vision? A near-death experience? Was he talking to his mother, or just a memory? Questions poured into his mind quicker than he could think about them, and he barely noticed the door sliding open to his right. "Hi, Rei." Shinji heard Motowa say, her voice much more solemn than he had been used to hearing.

Shinji could almost hear Rei blink as she stopped in the doorway. "How were you able to get in here?"

"It's amazing what can be overlooked for a pretty face." Motowa said with an audible smirk. "Is he alright?"

"Yes." Rei replied, beginning to walk again.

"See you in class tomorrow." Motowa said to Rei before walking into Shinji's room.

"Hi, Motowa, I-- oomph!" Shinji was able to get out before the orange-haired girl ran over and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so glad you're alright..." Motowa said, her voice wavering.

"It's alright, Motowa..." Shinji said. "...unless you crush me to death..."

Motowa paused for a second, then loosened her grip on Shinji to allow him to breathe. "Sorry..."

"No, it's fine. I know how much you care about me." Shinji managed a smile.

"Good, because I care about you a lot."

Neither one moved for a few seconds, before Motowa started to lean forward. He could still taste the LCL in his mouth, and said "I wouldn't recommend that."

"Why not?" Motowa asked, and kissed him anyway.

Almost as soon as her lips met his, her eyes widened as the smell and taste of blood reached her. Motowa pulled back, making a face. "Bleauh!" She squealed.

"I tried to warn you..." Shinji said, trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably.

"Yes, you did." She said, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. "Exactly why do you smell like you bathed in blood?"

"Has to do with how I pilot. They submerge me in this stuff that-- well, I can't say, but it unfortunately smells and tastes like blood."

"Submerge? You mean it's a breathable liquid?"

"Yeah. But don't tell anyone, I've said too much already."

Motowa nodded. "I understand."

Shinji heard the door slide open with an audible hiss to his right. He glanced past Motowa to see Ritsuko walk in the room. "Good morning, Shinji." Ritsuko greeted Shinji without looking up from her clipboard, oblivious to Motowa's presence.

"Good morning, Ritsuko-san." Shinji said.

"Good to see that you're up." Ritsuko stopped right in front of Motowa, who had turned around to face the blonde doctor. "Are you feeling fatigued, or..." Ritsuko finally looked up and blinked as she realized that Motowa was looking up at her and not Shinji.

"Hi." Motowa said.

"Hello. Ritsuko returned. "And you are..."

"I'm a friend of Shinji's." Motowa replied, and at Ritsuko's expectant stare added "Shimano Motowa."

"And how, may I ask, did you get in here?"

"I found out where Shinji was staying from Misato, and talked the guards into letting me in."

Ritsuko looked slightly annoyed. "How do you know Shinji?"

"She's my girlfriend." Shinji spoke up suddenly, making Ritsuko glance around Motowa.

"I see." Ritsuko wasn't entirely apologetic, but she did understand.

She focused on Motowa again. "Unfortunately, Motowa-kun, I have to run a battery of tests on Shinji now, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"No problem. Shinji says he's fine, and I believe him. Besides the fact that he smells like blood."

Ritsuko chuckled. "LCL will do that."

Motowa walked around Ritsuko to the door. "See you in school tomorrow, hopefully, Shinji."

"I hope so too, Motowa." Shinji replied as the orange-haired girl walked out of the hospital room.

Ritsuko cleared her throat after a few moments, snapping Shinji out of his momentary reverie. "Can you get out of bed?"

Shinji blinked. "Oh, um..." He was able to stand up with minimal difficulty.

"Good. Now if you'll walk around the room for me...?"

---

Wow, I did not expect these two scenes to be so long. But I just kept finding things for these characters to say, and they kept talking.

To end the small mystery about the two bodyguards with Shinji last chapter, they were from Serial Experiments Lain. Karl's name is only said once in the series, and only then just his first name. Lin's name is never said, but I saw it on the internet, so it must be true...

Anyway, I was struggling with the idea of what was Splitting of the Breast for about a day, wondering if Shinji, now out of the equation, would take point regardless of Asuka volunteering him or not. Shinji's depression never really affects his sync ratio all along the series, and so his score still ranks far above Rei's regardless of Asuka's half-death. (Splitting of the Breast, in its entirety, takes place after the first scene.)

Anyway, I appear to be getting into a rhythm again. I know pretty much exactly what the next chapter, or chapters, depending on how long these scenes end up, are gonig to turn out. It may be possible to guess what I'm going to do with the next few episodes of NGE. Let me put it this way -- there will still be three evas operating.

Oh, and to clarify, Asuka isn't _awake_, per se, but her brain activity indicates that she is. To the outside world, she's comatose. And yes, I do realize that in the original update, I screwed up my own plot line. Brain-fart. It's all good now.

-update #2- OKAY. I think I've got them all now. Never have I made such a plot screwup in my life. As soon as Practice is completed, I swear I'm going to have to commit seppuku.


	15. Orange and Blue

"I've delegated transport of the Unit to the U.N. It will arrive by the end of the weekend. You'll take care of it from there." The Commander asks, his voice muffled by the liquid and glass between him and I.

"Hai. We'll perform the modifications and activation test in Matsushiro." Doctor Akagi replies.

"And the pilot will be..." An unspoken question.

"Use of the Dummy Plug is not recommended at this time. One of our prospective candidates..."

"Will be chosen as the Fourth Child?" The Commander finishes for Doctor Akagi.

"Yes, there are two children whose cores can be prepared immediately." Of its own accord, my mind begins to wonder who the Fourth Child could be.

"Then I'll trust you to make it so."

"Hai."

"Rei, we're finished now."

I slip out of the light meditative trance I had brought myself into and open my eyes. "Hai." I respond.

"Let's eat."

"Hai."

The LCL in the tube begins to drain through a grate in the floor. I start to sink to the bottom with the liquid, eventually touching down on the grate. When the LCL level drains to below my mouth, I exhale as much of the LCL in my lungs as I can, then take care not to breathe too deeply as I inhale again. I try to get as much LCL off of my body as I can while it drains. When the LCL has finished draining, gravity fully reasserts itself.

The tube opens and I step out. My first few steps are somewhat shaky, but I retain my balance well enough. I begin to walk towards the commander.

The Commander and I walk to the doorway. Doctor Akagi had left while the LCL was draining. The Commander keys in a command on the panel by the door, and it opens. The Commander and I walk to a change room and waits outside while I change into a plug suit. It is unfortunate that I must put clothing on over the drying LCL just to go to the showers. I would not mind walking through the halls of Central Dogma without the plug suit, especially at this time where there are almost no people on duty, but the Commander minds.

It is a struggle to put on the plug suit. The inside of the material has a thin coating of lubricant to make movement easier, but it only works on clean skin. The LCL coating me is making the material stick. I allow myself to let out a small sigh at the uncomfortable journey to the pilot's showers.

Not wanting to waste any more time than is necessary, I walk out of the change room without further delay, falling into step with the Commander, who has already begun to walk towards the elevator. When we reach it, the Commander keys in another command on a similar panel, and the elevator opens. We walk in.

The Commander, instead of pressing the expected button for the seventh floor, presses the button for the twelfth floor, his office. "Since you and I will be going directly to the cafeteria once you are done showering, I thought you might be better off using the shower in my quarters instead of the pilot's showers."

"Hai." I respond automatically.

It will prolong the discomfort I feel by a minute or so, but it is not disagreeable to have a proper shower.

---

I walk into the bathroom and immediately begin to take off my plug suit. The material sticks and has to be peeled off of me, as if I was covered in tape. I wince slightly in pain as part of the plug suit adheres to my left breast, and peels with difficulty and quite a lot of tension. I look down and see the breast begin turning red. _That was not pleasant._ I think.

I take off the rest of my plug suit with difficulty. Walking to the shower, I again wonder about the fourth child as I turn on the water. I am aware that the prospective Children are in my class at school, with several scattered around different classes due to the class being over-full with students. I do not know which students outside of class 1-A are prospective Children; as such, anyone in the school could very well be.

When the water temperature finally warms to an acceptable level, I step into the stream. The water begins melting the LCL that has dried into a gluey substance on my skin.

I look around for the shampoo. It does not appear to be in view. Turning around, I see an indent in the wall under the showerhead with various toiletries in it. I find the chemical shampoo designed to rinse out LCL from hair and pour some of it into my hand. As soon as the shampoo begins to work its way into my hair, I can feel the tingle of the light acid working.

I wonder at my curiosity as I continue to speculate. Looking down, I notice that the water on the floor of the shower has turned orange. _That colour is the same as Motowa's hair's._ I think. Motowa...

_"Hi, I'm Shimano Motowa."_

_The girl is the only one to pay any attention to me. I ignore her and continue with a series of stretches to loosen up various joints for the race about to begin._

_Undaunted, the girl continues. "So, are you fast?"_

_"Yes." I reply, adjusting the material of my swimsuit._

_"You look like a good swimmer. Very slim and streamlined." She begins to stretch also. "So what's your name?"_

_I decide not to reply. I would rather not speak to anyone. The girl stays quiet after that._

_"Swimmers in the seventh heat, please make your way to the blocks." An announcement comes from a man with a microphone from the other end of the pool._

_I walk to my designated place in the third slot. The girl gets into position in the fourth. "Have a good race." She says._

_Despite my desire to ignore her, I respond. "I will."_

_"Swimmers, on your marks." The same man with the microphone says._

_I tuck myself into a ball, waiting for the signal to go._

_"Get set... GO!"_

_All other thought flees from me as I dive into the water. The cool liquid slides easily around me as I kick for a few seconds under the water before breaking the surface and beginning a breast stroke._

_At one point, I look to my right. The girl is keeping up with me. A challenge._

_I pour more energy into my strokes, pushing forward. I come to the other side and turn to the right to push off of the wall again. She has managed to match me stroke for stroke._

_Redoubling my efforts, I continue to expend more energy in the hope of pulling ahead of the girl. My body begins to tire, but I push through it. The wall comes ever closer, stroke, stroke, stroke..._

_I hit the wall._

_I look up at the scoreboard at the other end of the pool. I beat the swimmers in the first two lanes easily... I blink hard as I see the result for the third and fourth lanes. They are an exact tie._

_I quickly glance at the remaining four lanes. They are all several seconds below Motowa's and my time. "Wow." I hear from my right, and glance towards the girl, who is looking at the scoreboard with an impressed expression. "Tied. You really _are_ fast."_

_"So are you." I return._

_After a few seconds, I make a decision. "I'm Rei."_

_Motowa looks at me. "I knew you'd come around." She smiles._

I blink as I hear the water shut off. Looking around, I realize that while I was thinking about meeting Motowa, I had continued to wash without thinking. I turn the water the rest of the way off, then walk out of the shower. I reach for a towel and begin drying myself off. As I do, I look around for clothing... then realize there isn't any. I look at the sticky plug suit on the ground. I am not putting that on again.

I wrap a towel around myself and walk out into the main room of the Commander's Quarters. "Do you feel better?" The Commander asks me.

"Yes, I do." I reply. "I am without clothing."

"I went and got one of your school uniforms while you were showering." The Commander says, gesturing to the clothing hanging over a chair near me.

I walk toward the uniform. The Commander realizes that I am about to change and turns his back to give me privacy. I drop the towel and begin putting on the uniform. "Sir," I begin, "Doctor Akagi said there were two children who could be prepared for the role of Fourth Child. Which two?"

"The two prospective Children are Suzuhara Toji and Shimano Motowa." The Commander says.

"It would be... nice... if Motowa were to be chosen. She is my friend."

"Oh?" The Commander says. His tone of voice tells me that he is already thinking of some sort of plan. "Perhaps."

---

That took far too long to write.

Forgive the delay, school and power outages have delayed the release of this chapter. But here it is.

So. Major-ass twist alert. What I've got planned for the next chapter might make it especially long or two chapters, but the events leading up to Ambivalence will be covered in the next update, no matter how long it is or how many chapters it spans.


	16. White Knight to C4

"Tadaima!" I call as I walk into the apartment Misato and I share.

"Hey, Shinji." Misato calls out from the kitchen, a little more slurred than usual.

I begin to worry about Misato. She was a heavy drinker before, but I can count the number of times in the past week where I've seen her without a beer in her hand on one hand, with fingers left over. "You alright?" I ask.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine..." Misato says in a quiet tone.

I've noticed that when Misato is thoroughly drunk, she gets very quiet and introspective. That side of her shows through every so often normally, but it seems to take her over when she gets like this. "You sure?" I say, letting the concern creep into my voice.

"No." She replies at almost a whisper. I hear the thump of a can of beer hitting the ground, and the fizzle of what's left in the can spilling out.

I walk into the kitchen and blink at the number of empty beer cans that have appeared since I left for school. I count at least seventeen such cans, plus the one still spilling its contents on the floor. I pick up the emptying beer can and set it on the table, then get some paper towels to clean up the slowly advancing pool of liquid.

"amm... fal..." Misato slurs from her position, slumped over the kitchen table.

I blink as I try to decipher the gobbledegook that the Major has just spouted. "Nani?" I ask.

"a'... all m' f'lt..."

I finally translate what she's saying. "It's not your fault." I say, picking her arm up from where it's dangling and putting it above her head.

That move proves to be futile, as Misato starts to shake her head from its resting place on the table. She barely moves at first, but soon she shakes her head hard enough to knock out a wall from the small castle she had made out of beer cans at one point — complete with, I see falling out of the topmost can, a small flag made from a piece of newspaper impaled on a toothpick.

I pick up the five cans that actually made it onto the floor, including one that fell on my head while I picked up the other four. I look up and Misato has sat up, and is looking at the can castle that she destroyed. "I' all r't'rns t' nothin'... it jus' kee's tumb'lin down tumb'lin down tumb'lin down..." She sings.

She suddenly goes quiet for a few moments. "Whr's th' wh't kn't?" She almost seems ready to cry.

Another sentence I can't translate. "Nani?"

She turns and looks at me, and her eyes light up... well, as much as can be expected for someone in her state. "Y'ur safe!" She says.

"Um, yes, I'm safe." I say, wondering who Misato thinks I am.

_I should probably try to get Misato in bed, let her sleep this off._ I think. "Misato?"

"Mm?" She asks.

"It's time for bed, I think."

"B'd?"

"Yes. Time to go to sleep."

"O'. B'dtime."

She tries to get to her feet, but it proves to be somewhat futile. "Hold on, Misato, I'll help you."

I throw one of her arms around my neck and try to get her to her feet. She can move somewhat, and can support her weight with my help. We walk unsteadily to her bedroom. "Okay, here we are..."

I try and get her to squat down so I can move her into a lying position, but she isn't having any of it. Using strength I didn't know she possessed at the moment, she grabs me by the waist and we both fall onto her futon. "Whooooah!" I say as I fall, trying to put my arms out to break my fall, but they're being pinned by Misato's arms.

I get the wind knocked out of me when I hit the padded ground, but thankfully Misato's aim is good enough to get both our heads to land on the long pillow that takes up one edge of her bed.

I finally open my eyes, and see that Misato is already asleep. I look down... then look right back up. One of Misato's breasts has popped out of her loose yellow top. My face seems to erupt in flames as I blush madly.

I shift, trying to get out of Misato's grip, but as soon as I move, Misato pulls me closer. I sigh, resigning myself to spending the night with her.

I try to close my eyes and get some sleep, but almost as soon as I do I start to hear a light rasping noise. I open one eye and see that Misato has begun to snore. _It's going to be a long night..._ I think, closing my eye again and trying to ignore the saw-like noise that will probably keep me up half the night.

---

---

---

I begin to wake up slowly, very slowly. My senses slowly come on-line, one by one. First is touch... I seem to be sleeping next to a large, hard object of some sort. I can still feel the effect of the beer I had last night... scanning my brain, I can't remember a thing about what happened. I can't even remember if Shinji got home or not. _I wonder if he spent the night at Motowa's... the girl sharing a bed with him is very lucky, indeed._

I open one eye to attempt to identify the object I'm sleeping next to, and immediately regret the way I phrased my last thought. _Shinji! How the hell did he get in my bed?_

I open the other eye and look around. My arms are wrapped around his, and he appears to be sleeping peacefully next to me. _What the hell did I do last night?_ I think, beginning to get more and more worried.

I shift slightly, and my eyes go wide as I feel something out of place at my chest. I look down, and see that one of my tits have slipped out of my shirt. _Crap,_ I think, moving the arm that isn't under Shinji to readjust my shirt. _Don't tell me I..._

Shinji stirs. "Mmngmn..." He mumbles as he slowly regains consciousness.

I watch as he opens an eye, and blinks confusedly at me once before seeming to remember how he got here. "Oh, good morning, Misato. How's your head?" He asks.

"Huh? Fine, fine..."

"You kept me up half the night, you know that?" He says suddenly, and my eyes barely avoid popping out of my head.

"What!" I exclaim, louder than I should have.

Shinji blinks and rolls onto his back. "You snore."

I blink, then begin to laugh. "What?" He asks.

"I can't remember anything about last night. The way you said that... I had thought..."

Shinji blinks hard enough to hear about it. "That wasn't my intent. Too bad you can't remember last night, though. I'm still trying to figure out your motive for literally dragging me into bed with you."

I try to roll onto my back, but I'm stopped by the fact that Shinji's back has my arm under it. "Uh, Shinji? Can I have my arm back?"

"Huh? Oh, right." Shinji says, doing a half-sit-up to allow me to slide my arm out.

"So what else did I do?" I ask, already dreading the answer.

"Besides drinking what appeared to be twice your normal daily consumption of beer in one sitting? You made a small castle out of the empties, and you were half-passed out when I found you." Shinji thought for a moment. "You were on number eighteen, dropped it on the floor, I cleaned it up, you knocked over your little castle, and I helped you in here, where you basically gave me a bear hug and fell on your futon."

"Wow." I think. _I don't think I've ever been that plastered before._

"Anyway, judging from your clock it's almost ten, so I guess it's time for breakfast."

I nod. "Do we have the stuff for bacon and eggs?"

Shinji gets up. "Oh, and Misato?"

"Yes, Shinji?"

"Don't drink like that again. You scare me when you're like that." He says, and walks out of the room, leaving me to contemplate what he said.


	17. Imaginary

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

The question is on everyone's mind, but I am the only one to voice it. I'm probably the only one with the ability to get away with voicing it.

"Yes, Maya, I am." Sempai replies. "Asuka's not brain-dead. If we can get EVA-02 to synch with Asuka, there's still a chance she could be able to pilot in some capacity."

I nod. Having only two pilots, and an inexperienced third, with the very real possibility of an angel attack just around the corner, isn't the most desirable of choices. I watch on the viewscreen as Asuka is loaded into the entry plug, various apparatuses and the like still attached to her. When she is secure, the technicians remove the various tubes from her body as quickly as possible and close the door to the entry plug. "Load the plug." Sempai commands, and I quickly type in the command.

When the plug is fully loaded, I go through the steps to prepare the plug and the pilot for synch. "Flooding the plug now." I announce, keying in that command as well.

"How's the pilot's respiration?" Sempai asks.

"Seems normal." Hyuga replies. "She's able to use the LCL in her current state."

"Good." Sempai says with a small sigh of relief. "See if the EVA will sync with the pilot."

I run through the commands needed to activate EVA, now second nature with twelve Angel attacks and countless drills. "Initiating sync test with pilot."

_I begin walking around. What injuries I seemed to have when I got here have healed, to the point that I can walk around normally, anyway._

_I'm no closer to figuring out what this place is — I haven't even really gotten used to how alien it looks. And the grass still makes me think I'm walking around on Wondergirl's head._

_I wonder why I don't get hungry or thirsty in this place. I never feel full, but I do feel fed and nourished. In fact, I feel slightly better than I did in the real world._

_The backlit sky never darkens, from what I can see. the rainbow-coloured drizzle never stops either. No wind, no change, no nothing. Someone who enjoys peace would love it here._

_I can't wait to leave. It's too boring! Nothing ever happens. Just one boring little place. I sigh heavily as I sit and stare out into space, leaning back against the tree._

_Suddenly, I get up without thinking about it. "Huh?" I say out loud._

_It's not that I meant to get up, and just did -- it was more that I got forced into getting up. Just like my arms are being forced to their sides now. I try to break free, and whatever is holding me is giving slightly. I try with all my strength to free my arms, and slowly they begin to budge._

_"_EVA-02 is going berserk!" I exclaim, watching the readings pour in. "...Or is it?"

"Sure looks like it." Misato comments.

"Well, yes, but these readings suggest a perfect synch with the pilot." I clarify.

"What? That's impossible, why would Asuka want to break out of the bonds?" Sempai asks.

"Ritsuko?" Misato says suddenly. "Can you free Unit-02 easily from those bonds?"

"Yes, but why? If Unit-02 IS going berserk, it's not the time to give it free rein."

"What if Asuka doesn't realize she's in her Eva?"

I thought about that for a second. "It would explain why she's panicking." I add.

Sempai seems to fight an internal battle for a few moments. "Sever the ties."

I'm already keying it in.

_All at once, whatever was keeping me immobilized was released. I stumble forward for a second, my arms coming forward to stabilize me... until I hit something on the other side._

Another barrier?_ I think, running my hand along what feels like some sort of wall._

_I meet the edge of the wall. It makes a box that surrounds me on at at least three sides. I continue to feel my way around, turning to my left._

Everyone is holding their collective breath to see if Unit-02 will do anything more than simply act like it's blind. As soon as the bonds were removed, it stumbled forward, hit the opposite wall, then started to feel around.

Unit-02's finger finds the ridge of the window, and it acts surprised. Then, it begins to tap on the glass in some kind of pattern.

The MAGI whir to life suddenly. A viewscreen switches to the MAGI's output. A series of dots and dashes appear... "Wait a second, isn't that morse code?"

The translation of the tapping seems to support it. It... Asuka is spelling out Romaji. "Watashi... no... namae... wa... Asuka... desu..."

My name is Asuka._ I think, tapping out the sequence of morse code on what feels like some sort of window. I wait for some response, anything, but nothing seems to come._

_I continue moving around, trying to see if I can recognize where I am. I can't remember being in a room this small..._

_Wait a second._

_I walk back to where I was first immobilized. I can feel some sort of restraint where my arms should be. My eyes widen. I seem to be in the Evangelion Sync Room!_

_I find my way to the window and begin tapping again. "Asuka... is... in..."_

_"_...Unit...02?" Misato reads from the panel.

"She understands where she is." I comment. "We need to find a way to communicate with her."

"She appears to only have one sense available to her, touch." Ritsuko thinks aloud. "Can you send a false signal to her nerves?"

I blink, then run through most of the mental manual I have for this control panel. "I think so. You want to send morse code back?"

"Yes. Translate the following message into Morse Code and send it... 'Yes... you..."

_"...are... in... Unit... 02... stop... you... are... in... coma... stop..." I say aloud, translating what the person at the other end of this conversation is tapping onto my right palm somehow. Coma? How? I continue to look at my right palm as I tap with my left hand. "Who... is... speaking... to... me?"_

_The tapping resumes. "Ritsuko... with... Misato... and... crew... stop... you... are... in... EVA... for... synch... test... stop."_

_Makes sense. I guess my brain waves are still being picked up. I think about what to say next, but before I do the tapping begins once more. "Are... we... correct... in... assuming... you... only... have... touch... sense?"_

_I sigh, as I know this'll be a long response. "No... I... have... all... five... senses... only... touch... connects... to... real... world..." Yeah, like they're going to understand that._

_"Clarify." They ask._

_"I... am... in..." I pause. Where am I? "Location... unknown... stop... purple sky... blue grass..."_

_I can just imagine the entire room blinking at what I just told them._

I blink seemingly in unison to everyone else. "Purple sky? Blue grass?" I ask, not really expecting a response.

"...Maybe it's some sort of dream world, a little microcosm Asuka has created for her own mind." Sempai suggests.

I look back at Unit 02, seeming to stare at its right palm while resting its left hand on the window. "So that's why her brain activity seems normal." Sempai says suddenly.

"What?" I ask.

"Asuka's brain activity readings give the impression that she's awake, even though she's clearly in a coma. I guess it's just that her consciousness is... elsewhere at the moment."

"Like an out-of-body experience?" I ask.

"Sort of, but the out-of-body part is removed from that."

"How do we get her back, then?"

"If we can't get Asuka to retreat out of her own mind, then we can't. The only good thing is, we now have a way of communicating with her, so if we can think of a way to help Asuka, we can tell it to her directly."

I nod. "We need some time to think. Send this message..."

_"Thinking... of... way... to... help... you... get... out... of... Imaginary... world... stop... Until... then... return... you... to... other... world... stop." Return me... I'm already here!_

_Oh... she means she's going to take me out of my Eva again. "Yokai." I tap out._

_I stand up straight and wait for Ritsuko to unsynch me. When she does, it doesn't feel much different, except for the fact that I don't feel that I'm walking around in shoes._

_"Great, so I'm still stuck here for the moment." I say to myself, looking around the landscape for the ten millionth time. "Guess there's nothing to do but climb that blasted tree again..."_

_---_

Now, I'm not even sure I'm going to do anything with Asuka, but if I do at least I have some backup to how it's all possible. I'll return you to your regularly scheduled Ambivalence next chapter. Oh, and the reason it's all one scene here is because I didn't want to have to fill up this chapter with a page worth of line breaks.

Onwards to chapter 18!


	18. Ambivalence

Shinji walked to the practice room at the end of the hall, carrying his cello and his music. It was just for appearance, though — he hadn't used it the last three times he spent the whole period talking with Motowa. She was missing quite a bit of class, being subjected to almost daily synch tests and a battery of other tests to get her ready for the activation test of Unit 03. Naturally, Motowa was curious about the previous battles Shinji had participated in, and since she was now part of NERV, Shinji was authorized to tell her.

Shinji found it oddly calming to share his experiences with his girlfriend. The memories of him going berserk, of him being flung around like a rag doll, they didn't hurt as much.

Shinji peered into the window in the door— nobody was there. Shrugging, Shinji walked into the practice room and began to set up to play. _I wonder how many notes I'll play before Motowa gets here. _Shinji thought.

He had just sat down with his cello in front of him when Motowa walked in the room. "Hey Shinji..." She said as she closed the door behind her. "...what?" She added, noticing the Third's amused smirk.

"I haven't even played one note."

Motowa smiled. "Timing is everything."

Shinji rested his arms on the cello as Motowa sat down on the second, and only other, chair in the room. "Um, I was wondering about this for a while, what kind of tests have you gone through?" Motowa asked. "I suppose you did a bunch more than me."

"Maybe... what kind of test are you talking about?"

"I don't know, something weird. If you can avoid classifying the whole thing weird."

Shinji thought for a moment. "Weird, huh? There was this one time... it was right after we went through the vents to get out of the school."

"Oh yeah, that. That was fun."

"Yeah, it was." Shinji smiled warmly. "Anyway, we were doing a special synch test without the interference caused by our plugsuits."

Motowa blinked in slight confusion. "So what were you wearing instead of plugsuits?"

"We weren't." Shinji said, a slight blush coming to his features.

"Oh... _oh."_ Motowa said, realizing what he meant. "That does sound pretty weird."

"Yeah, it was... but it wasn't too bad. "We ended up being ejected out after what turned out to be an angel corroded some pipes and infected one of the EVA bodies we were in."

"Wow. That is weird."

Motowa thought for a second. "I wonder if they're planning another one of those tests..." She thought out loud.

Shinji smirked. "You just want an excuse to see me naked."

"Do I need an excuse?"

"Uh, er..." Shinji stammered.

Motowa began to chuckle. "Relax, Shinji... you know I'd never pressure you into anything."

Shinji nodded. "I-I know." He managed a smile. "I also know you're somewhat of a tease."

Motowa shook her head. "No I'm not."

Shinji looked incredulous. "You don't consider yourself a tease?"

"You forget, a tease is defined as someone who doesn't plan on finishing what they start, so to speak."

The full meaning of Motowa's words hit Shinji like a ton of bricks. "_Oh."_ He said, blushing.

"You're so cute when you do that." Motowa said. "And _that_ was teasing you."

Shinji laughed in embarrassment. "I gathered that..."

Shinji rested his cello against the wall to his right, then scooted his chair forward until he was almost touching Motowa's. "That doesn't mean I won't do other things in the meantime..."

Shinji leaned forward and kissed Motowa, who immediately returned the kiss. Sparks shot through them as they kissed, their lips staying connected for several minutes, until Shinji felt Motowa's hand grasp his own and move it to her breast. Shinji blinked, and upon noticing Shinji's expression, Motowa said "You can move your hand if you want..." Her hand went back to her side as she kissed Shinji again.

After a few seconds, Shinji began to slowly knead Motowa's breast. "Mmm... that's not what I meant..." Motowa said in a slightly dreamy tone.

"I know." Shinji said before kissing Motowa again.

After a while, Motowa broke the kiss and stood up. "What are you..." Shinji said as Motowa took a step towards Shinji and promptly deposited herself in his lap, her legs not quite dangling off to Shinji's left. "...oh."

"More comfortable this way." Motowa said, wrapping her arms around Shinji's neck.

Shinji's arms made their way around Motowa's waist, and they kissed again. Soon, Shinji's hand made its way to Motowa's breast again, and Motowa let out a sigh of pleasure as it resumed its kneading motion.

Soon, Motowa breoke the kiss yet again and remarked "My, I seem to be sitting on something rather hard..."

Shinji chuckled at the joke until Motowa began to wiggle back and forth. His chuckling was replaced with a groan as he kissed Motowa yet again, returning the teasing Motowa was giving him by rolling his thumb over Motowa's breast.

Motowa moaned softly as the stimulation began to take an effect on her, and the moved a hand to trace various folds on Shinji's shirt, ever trailing lower, until...

Shinji's watch beeped, startling the two teens. After a few seconds of near-motionlessness, they disengaged themselves and stood up. "Uh, I guess we should get going, class is over..." Motowa said, a light blush beginning to show on her features.

"Yeah, yeah... we probably shouldn't be doing this here anyway..."

"Yeah... um, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ye--wait, isn't tomorrow..."

"Oh, right, my activation test in Matsushiro. I forgot."

Shinji smiled. "If I don't see you again, good luck."

Motowa smiled back. "I don't think I'm going to need luck. I sit in the Eva, it activates, we run tests. What's the worst that could happen?"

---

"What is this...? WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, FATHER!"

"Signal acknowledgement confirmed!"

"Control system switching is complete."

"All nerves linked to the dummy system."

"32.8 of emotional elements are unclear. It can't be monitored."

"Irrelevant. Open the system. Begin the attack."

Unit 01 began to move under the power of the Dummy system, bringing its arms up to choke the Angel. It struggled with the black being for a few seconds before gaining the upper hand.

The personnel in the control room were astonished. "Is this the power of the dummy plug?" Maya asked, staring at the main screen.

the Evangelion continued to press harder and harder on the Angel's neck, and a sickening crack could be heard as its neck was broken. The Eva continued to choke the Angel, lifting it up off the ground, before swinging it around and slamming it down on the ground.

Ikari Gendo simply smiled from where he was, pleased that the Dummy Plug was working well.

The Eva destroyed the head of the Angel in one punch, splattering its brain matter halfway across the landscape. It then began literally ripping the Angel apart, punching and tearing away at armour and limbs until there was almost nothing left.

"STOP THIS!" Shinji yelled from his front-row seat in the Evangelion. "Father, no, stop doing this now!" He pleaded. _No, not to Motowa, not now, please..._

He pulled frantically at his controlls. "Damn you! Stop! Stop it! Stop it!"

He looked up as he saw the Entry Plug in Unit 01's hands. "STOP!" He screamed...

An orange glow surrounded the Entry Plug just before it was crushed.

"AT Field deployed!" Hyuga reported from the control room. "But there's no Angel present!"

The Evangelion, unable to crush the Entry Plug, instead simply dropped it. Having done its job, the Dummy Plug system shut down.

"Eva Unit 03 — I mean, the target is completely silent." Hyuga reported.

---

Misato woke up to the sounds of various emergency crews working around her. "Am I still alive...?" She said softly, looking to her left. "Kaji?"

"You were lucky, Katsuragi." Kaji replied.

"Where's Ritsuko?" Misato asked.

"Don't worry. She wasn't hurt as bad as you were."

"I see." Misato said, smiling wanly. "What about Unit 03?"

"It was destroyed, as an Angel, by Unit 01."

Misato gasped, then turned her head to face the other direction. "Shinji... he knew Motowa was piloting..."

---

Shinji was still waiting for extraction, crying in his Eva. _Please let Motowa be alright, please let Motowa be alright, please let Motowa be alright..._ He kept repeating in his mind.

"Shinji-kun..." Misato said over the comm system.

"Misato? You're safe?"

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry for what happened to Motowa..."

"Misato... I... I almost killed... My father forced me... I didn't want to, but..."

"Shinji, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"Report from the Entry Plug recovery team. The pilot's life signs are confirmed." One of the personnel reported.

"She's alive?" Shinji said happily.

He saw Motowa get pulled out of the Entry plug. "She's alive... She's alive!"

"Report from the Entry Plug recovery team. The pilot does not seem to be badly injured."

Shinji breathed a deep sigh of relief. _She's safe..._ _she's safe!_


	19. Lemon Consummé

_Warning! Warning! This chapter contains a massive lemon scene!_

---

Motowa slowly woke up, her head spinning. _What... what happened?_

Without opening her eyes, she tried to figure out what had landed her in this state. _Okay... what was I doing lately? There was... school... I was in the practice room with Shinji... Then home... Next day, I go to Matsushiro for the..._

Motowa's eyes snapped open, then closed again almost immediately. _Ooh, that was a mistake._ She said, trying to fight back the N2 mine that had exploded in her brain. Her eyes had opened to the bright white hospital room, overloading her retinas. She moaned in pain as she turned over onto her side.

"You sound cheerful." A voice said in front of Motowa, and she opened one eye for a second to see who it was.

"You'd sound like this too if you felt like I did, Shinji." She replied quietly.

"Yeah, probably. Seems I'm the only pilot who hasn't been dropped from a height of thirty feet in an Entry Plug."

"Consider yourself lucky."

"I will." Shinji said, and Motowa could hear the smile on his face.

"What are you so happy about?"

"Your condition."

"My condition?" Motowa said in confusion. "You like seeing me in pain or something?"

"A bunch of superficial pain that will go away in a day versus arm and leg injuries that will take three weeks to heal, yeah, I'm ecstatic."

"...oh. I take it Rei wasn't as lucky as I was."

"That's putting it mildly. Somehow, you managed to walk... er, leave the Entry Plug without a scratch on you."

"Wow. How'd I manage that?" Motowa asked, not really expecting a response.

"Some sort of AT field."

That information made Motowa's eyes snap open, and because the light was coming from behind her, the migraine had only been as strong as a freight train. "Ow... What? What AT field?"

"That's the part nobody can figure out. The 13th Angel was long dead and Unit 01 didn't produce it."

"So... what does that mean?"

"Nobody knows."

Shinji got up off the chair and kneeled down beside Motowa. "Truthfully, I don't care. There was a guardian Angel looking out for you, if you can forgive the pun." He leaned forward to kiss Motowa.

Motowa could still taste the LCL in her mouth. "I wouldn't recommend that..." She cautioned.

"And why not?" Shinji said, and kissed Motowa anyway.

They stayed like that for ten or fifteen seconds before Shinji broke the kiss. "I know what LCL tastes like." He said.

"I know..."

Shinji stood up. "Anyway, I have to get going. There are other people who want to say hi, anyway. See you when you feel better."

"Okay... thanks for stopping by, Shinji."

"You're welcome."

Shinji walked away and Motowa could hear the whoosh of the door opening. "Your turn." He said to someone, who walked in and sat down without saying a word.

"Hello, Rei." Motowa said, knowing the mannerisms of her friend.

"Hello, Motowa. How do you feel?"

Motowa rolled back onto her back and tried to open her eyes, and was able to do so without another spike of pain. "Drained."

Rei smiled. "It was your first time. It is to be expected."

---

Shinji walked in the door to the apartment with Motowa, still laughing. "You know a _lot_ of jokes."

"Laughter's good for the soul." Motowa replied, grinning. "Okay, here's another one. A priest walks into a bar, and says 'Do you want to go to heaven?' to the first man he meets. The man says 'yes, I do, Father.' So the priest tells him to stand against the wall."

They finish taking off their shoes and walk over to the couch in the living room. "The priest goes up to a second guy and says 'Do you want to go to heaven?' and same thing, the guy replies 'Yes', so the priest tells him to go stand against the wall. Now, he goes up to the _third_ guy, and asks him, and he says 'No, I don't.' The priest is a bit confused, and says 'You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?' The guy replies 'Oh, when I die, sure. I thought you were getting a group to go there right now.'"

Shinji laughed again as they plopped down on the couch. A really good joke Motowa had said earlier had given him the case of the giggles. Eventually, the laughter died away as Shinji and Motowa looked into each other's eyes. "Mo—" Shinji began.

"Ssh." Motowa said, placing a finger on Shinji's lips, leaning forward to replace it with her own lips.

They continued to kiss, even as Motowa leaned back, swinging her leg around to lie back on the couch, one leg hanging off it, with Shinji sitting between them. Shinji, now in an awkward position, brought his legs up and onto the couch, resting most of his weight on his legs and his left arm so he wouldn't crush Motowa.

Motowa began to giggle. "I don't think we have enough room here."

"You noticed that too, did you?" Shinji said, becoming more bold and moving his lips to Motowa's neck.

"Mmm... I'm serious, Shinji, I can see you're uncomfortable." Motowa continued, already becoming lost in a haze of pleasure.

"To my room, then." He said, getting up from the couch and stretching.

Three distinct pops could be heard and Motowa blinked. "That sounded painful."

"Yeah, well, it was your idea to lean back." Shinji said, not meaning it at all.

Motowa replied by sticking her tongue out at Shinji, without getting up from her position. "Are you coming?" He asked.

Mirth twinkled in Motowa's eyes as she replied "Actually, now that you're off of me, I'm quite comfortable."

"You wound me, madam." Shinji joked, putting a hand over his heart. "But, if you don't want to move yourself, I suppose it's my job to do so."

"What?" Motowa asked before Shinji bent over and kissed Motowa again, sliding a hand under her neck... and under her knees.

Using some of the strength he had gained from swinging and shooting various weapons at Angels, he picked Motowa up off the couch. To help Shinji out, Motowa grabbed onto Shinji's waist for support. "Romantic." She said, resting her head on Shinji's arm.

Shinji smiled as he walked with Motowa through the apartment, eventually getting to his Lovely Suite, the door of which he was able to slide open with his foot. He walked over to his bed and laid Motowa down on it. "That was very chivalrous of you." Motowa said, a soft smile on her face.

Shinji smiled back. "I'd do anything for you."

"I know." Motowa said as Shinji bent down to kiss her again.

They stayed like this for a while. "Shin-chan," Motowa said as Shinji again moved to Motowa's neck. "You can join me on the bed, you know."

"I know." Shinji said against Motowa's neck, the vibrations from his throat creating an odd sensation. "I feel like making you feel special tonight."

"Mmm? What do you mean?"

"This."

Shinji captured Motowa's mouth again with his own as his left hand began to roam over Motowa's body. It started at Motowa's right hip, moved slowly upward and hung a right, traveling over Motowa's bare midriff. It circled around Motowa's navel for a few revolutions before dragging itself upward, over the bunched-up fabric of Motowa's shirt, and found its way to Motowa's right breast, moving around in circles. Motowa closed her eyes and let herself be taken by the waves of pleasure Shinji was creating in her.

Shinji moved back down to Motowa's navel before sliding his hand up and under Motowa's shirt, going back to the breast he had been stroking previously. Motowa simply sighed at the attention she was receiving. _He knows how to make a girl feel special._ She thought.

Shinji then put his free right arm under Motowa's neck and sat her up, breaking her out of her reverie somewhat. She opened her eyes and looked half-lidded at Shinji, who had not stopped kissing her. "Mm?" She murmured.

"You're a bit overdressed, aren't you?" Shinji said simply, before moving to take Motowa's shirt off.

Motowa giggled as Shinji brought Motowa's shirt up and over her head... and then kept it there. "Hey!" Motowa said as her arms were trapped in the fabric of the shirt.

There was an odd gleam in Shinji's eyes. _Mischief?_ Motowa thought. _Oh, no... he's not going to—_

Shinji's hand started at the side of Motowa's neck and moved down over Motowa's breast to her ribs, slowly, before beginning to tickle them. Motowa began to laugh uncontrollably as she struggled against her shirt to break free. Shinji also laughed at how ticklish Motowa was.

He only kept this up for about thirty seconds before abruptly stopping, simply resting his hand on Motowa's stomach. "That was a dirty trick." Motowa said, tears in her eyes from laughing so hard.

"It was, was it?" Shinji said before giving Motowa a quick kiss. "I'm sure I'll find a way to make it up to you..."

Shinji's hand moved up and slid under Motowa's bra, stroking her left breast. Motowa's eyes closed again as she gasped softly. "You like that?" Shinji asked.

"Mm... Yes... very much." Motowa responded in a dreamlike state.

"You'll like this even more..."

Shinji's hand moved out from under Motowa's bra and went to the clasp in between the cups. He tried to open it, but didn't have any success. "...Damn." Shinji said, and Motowa laughed.

"Do you need help with that?" She asked mirthfully.

Shinji nodded. "Please."

He finally took Motowa's shirt completely off, freeing her arms. Motowa rolled her shoulders around once to get the circulation going again, then unclasped her bra. "Shall I take it off, or would you prefer to?"

"Either way..." Shinji said, and Motowa did half a sit-up to slide the bra out from under her and deposit it on the floor.

She lay back down and Shinji kissed her again, running his hand up and down the valley between her breasts. A slight flush came to Motowa's cheeks as she and Shinji continued to kiss, Shinji's hand now moving randomly all over Motowa's torso.

Soon, Shinji began to grow more bold. He moved his mouth down to Motowa's neck, then down to her chest, planting kisses as he went. Motowa tangled her left hand in Shinji's hair as he began kissing Motowa's right breast. She took Shinji's roaming hand in her own and placed it on her left, cupping the sensitive skin. Shinji took the hint and very slowly moved his mouth towards the center of Motowa's breast, before moving back down towards her side. "And you called me a tease..." Motowa said, her voice becoming slightly husky.

Shinji only smiled before dragging his tongue lightly up Motowa's breast, eventually stroking across her nipple. Motowa moaned aloud at the sensation it produced, arching her back slightly. Her hands pressed down on both Shinji's head and his hand, trying to increase the pressure, but Shinji strained against it, keeping up a light touch that was driving Motowa insane. "Shinji... please..." Motowa said, beginning to become more and more delirious.

"Show me what to do." Shinji said.

Motowa grasped the hand that she had been pressing into her breast and moved it lower, back over her stomach, and into her jeans. "In here." She said, taking her hand away to wrap her arm around Shinji's neck.

Shinji moved his hand lower until he reached Motowa's pubic hair. He began to stroke the area, and looked up from his suckling when he heard Motowa begin to giggle. A mischievous smirk came to Shinji's features as he said "You're ticklish here too, are you?"

"Heeheehee... Yes..." Motowa giggled.

Shinji continued to give attention to Motowa's breast as he tickled Motowa, prompting an odd series of half-giggles, half-moans from the Fourth. After a few more seconds, Shinji moved lower, to Motowa's slit, and ran his fingers up and down it.

The sudden increase in pleasure made Motowa suddenly press down on Shinji's head, holding on for dear life. Shinji began to laugh. "I take it you liked that a lot."

"You have no idea..."

Shinji smiled as he continued his ministrations, getting Motowa more and more worked up. Finally, Motowa grunted in frustration. "Now I _know_ I'm overdressed." She said, her hands moving to unbutton her jeans.

"Allow me..." Shinji said, moving to help Motowa.

Motowa had to stop what she was doing and throw her head back in pleasure as Shinji extracted his hands from Motowa's jeans by dragging his fingers up her slit and through her pubic hair one more time. "Not fair..." Motowa moaned.

"All's fair in love and war." Shinji quoted, and began to kiss Motowa's stomach as he took her jeans off.

"Doesn't mean I'm going to like it..." Motowa replied as Shinji moved back up and took Motowa's panties off as well, prompting the Third to stick out his tongue at the Fourth.

"If you're going to stick that tongue out at me, be prepared to use it..." Motowa said.

Shinji grinned mischievously, and Motowa knew that she had just fallen into a trap. "If you insist."

Shinji moved onto the bed and began kissing and licking his way up Motowa's legs from her knees, making Motowa groan in sheer anticipation. "Will you hurry up, I'm worked up enough already."

"Okay." Shinji said, and immediately moved up to stroke Motowa's slit again with his fingers.

His body continued to move until he was half-lying beside Motowa, and attached his mouth to her breast again, evoking another moan from the orange-haired girl. Shinji switched his attention to the other breast after a while, his free hand cupping the one he had just been suckling at.

"Oh _kami_, Shinji, ohh... don't stop, please, don't stop, don't..." Motowa babbled.

Shinji noticed that Motowa seemed to get more pleasure from the top half of her slit than the bottom, and began to focus on that area. Eventually, he found the small hardened nub of Motowa's clit, and when he dragged his finger over it, Motowa immediately arched her back and grabbed onto the sheets. "_OHH...yes!_ Right there, Shinji, don't stop rubbing right there..." Motowa said, and Shinji obliged, focusing on that one area.

Motowa was completely lost at this time, and unconsciously slowed her breathing down to next to nothing as her orgasm drew near.

Shinji noticed the change, and redoubled his efforts, rubbing faster on the hardened nub while sucking quite hard on the nipple he was attached to. This threw Motowa over the edge and she came, throwing her head back and stopping her breathing altogether. Shinji stopped what he was doing, and just stared at the look of intense rapture on Motowa's face. _I did that._ He realized.

Motowa couldn't even move for seven or eight seconds, and then she collapsed all at once and took a huge breath as she finally began to descend. Shinji gave the valley between her breasts a kiss, then kissed his way up to her mouth. "How was that?" Shinji asked with a cheshire cat grin on his face.

Motowa, with a strength Shinji didn't believe she still possessed, threw her arms around Shinji's neck and kiss the living hell out of him. When they finally broke for air, Motowa replied "That was the best... thank you." And proceeded to attempt to suffocate Shinji with kisses again.

Shinji began to laugh at the enthusiasm Motowa had in kissing him, and returned the kisses to the best of his ability, though he simply couldn't keep up with the Fourth. Eventually, she slowed down again. "You know what happens now, don't you?"

"We see a lot more of each other?" Shinji guessed with a grin.

"I was thinking a little more short-term than that."

"Oh."

"What I was thinking was..." Motowa said, a look in her eyes Shinji had never seen before. "...my turn."

"_Oh..."_ Shinji said. "If you want to..."

Motowa blinked. "You mean to tell me that you were planning on doing that to me and not even expecting the same in return?" She asked in disbelief.

"Well, I was hoping, but like I said, I wanted tonight to be about you."

"You amaze me, you know that?"

Shinji smiled. "I try."

"What brought this on? It was barely a week since 'I'm not ready'..."

"Yeah, well... It's funny what a near-death experience will do to one's perspective, even if it's not his own."

Motowa began to get tears in her eyes. "You care about me that much...?"

"I do. I love you."

"Oh, Shinji..."

Motowa hugged Shinji hard enough to knock the wind out of him. "Oof..."

Motowa continued to squeeze for a few more seconds before letting Shinji breathe again. "I love you too." She said.

Shinji smiled. "I'm glad you do."

"So am I... now that that's taken care of, we move to the next order of business."

"And what's... Whoooah!"

Motowa took advantage of Shinji's inattention and rolled over with him, landing on top of him. "The next order of business..." Motowa said in an incredibly sexy tone, "is to make you feel as good as you made me feel."

Motowa immediately went to Shinji's neck and began to suck and lick at it, as one hand began to undo the buttons on Shinji's shirt and the other slid under Shinji's head. As soon as all the buttons were undone, Motowa opened it up wide and began to kiss lower, moving to Shinji's chest.

Shinji began to breathe raggedly as Motowa continued to kiss all over Shinji's torso, her now-free hand coming up to play with one of his nipples, prompting a groan from the Third. Soon, her hand came down to untuck Shinji's shirt from his pants, and when that was done, he anticipated Motowa's next move and sat up, shrugging the shirt off. "Thanks." Motowa said quickly before tossing the discarded garment off the bed and pushing Shinji back down on the bed.

Shinji began to laugh at how quickly Motowa was moving. "I see we're in a hurry." He commented.

"If you knew how good I plan on making you feel, you'd want me to move this quickly, too."

"...Oooh my." Shinji was able to manage at Motowa's impactive statement.

Motowa wasted no time in moving to Shinji's pants and unbuttoning them, her hand darting in to stroke Shinji's erection. All thought of Motowa's impatience fled Shinji as the sensation hit him and he gasped aloud. "You see what I mean?"

"Yes... now I do..." Shinji managed, his mind still elsewhere as Motowa continued to stroke him through his briefs.

Motowa efficiently took off Shinji's pants and his briefs at the same time, depositing both on the floor. She then stopped as a thought occured to her. "Do you like to watch, Shinji?"

"Do I— what?" he asked, confused at the sudden question.

"Do you like to watch?" She repeated with a smirk.

The meaning behind Motowa's words finally hit Shinji. "Oh... well, I did like what I see, the first time, in the practice room..."

"I thought so... close your eyes."

"Okay." Shinji said, and did so.

Shinji could feel Motowa moving around him, and eventually felt two weights settle around his head. "Okay, open them."

Shinji opened one eye tenatively, and what he saw forced both open immediately. Motowa had moved so that her crotch was right above Shinji. "You like what you see?" Motowa asked.

Shinji babbled an affirmative. "I figured you would." Motowa said, and began to work.

She picked up Shinji's rock hard shaft in her hands and began to gently stroke it, running her hands up and down along it. "Oh my... _god_..." Shinji said, the light tough beginning to drive him insane.

Motowa seemed content to keep on with her light, slow pace once she had finally reached her goal, and Shinji began to become overrun with frustrated desire. "Harder... please..."

"Harder? Alright..." Motowa said, beginning to grasp Shinji more firmly.

The sensation increased, but soon Shinji was beginning to feel uncomfortable, as Motowa's hand was sticking to his skin. "Uh... Motowa... I need some kind of lubricant, I'm getting uncomfortable..." He said after he couldn't take the discomfort anymore.

"...Oh." Motowa thought for a second. "Any suggestions?"

"Anything." Shinji said, his brain not working well enough to come up with something more concrete.

Motowa thought for a second. "I have an idea..."

"Good, 'cause I-- _OHHH_!" Shinji began before Motowa took him halfway into her mouth.

He continued to voice his pleasure for a few more seconds as Motowa swirled him around in her mouth, getting a good coating of saliva. "Bleh." Motowa said as she took Shinji out of her mouth again.

Shinji could do nothing but breathe hard, as the sensations Motowa had just produced had been intense enough to make him hyperventilate. "I hope you enjoyed that, Shinji, 'cause I don't think I'll be doing that again in the near future." Motowa said, looking over her right shoulder at Shinji.

"Wh... Why?" Shinji said in between breaths.

"Whatever that is that's coming out of you... it tastes horrible."

"Oh... So... sorry." Shinji said.

Motowa shook her head, her hair tickling Shinji's hip. "Don't worry about it."

Motowa spat into her hand and spread the saliva around a little with her tongue before continuing to stroke Shinji's erection. "Better?"

"Mu... much... _ohh_..." Shinji said, beginning to hyperventilate again.

"Good. I'd hate for you to be uncomfortable."

Shinji, his hands completely free, decided to return to Motowa's slit. Motowa groaned, but took Shinji's hands away with her free hand. "Sorry, Shinji, but I'm quite a bit sore there now."

"Oh... Sorry."

"You didn't know." Motowa said. "You can touch anywhere else except my breasts and down there."

Shinji couldn't reply now if he wanted to. He opted to cup Motowa's buttocks, kneading them slightly.

He was rapidly ascending in pleasure, and he knew he wasn't going to last very long. "I... I warn you... I'm not gonna be very long..." He cautioned, his hips moving up to meet Motowa's hand automatically at every stroke.

"Oh?" Motowa said, looking back at Shinji again. "Better make what little time you have count..."

Shinji began to breathe even harder as Motowa took her free hand and wrapped it around the bottom of Shinji's shaft, some of her fingers coming down to stroke Shinji's balls. That broke what was left of Shinji's resolve and threw him over the edge. "Mo... I'm... _I'm... MotowaaaaaAAAAA!" _Shinji attempted to warn before he came.

Motowa brought her hand up and cupped the head of Shinji's dick as he came, preventing his semen from coming up and hitting her in the face. She waited about fifteen seconds before she moved her hand, giving Shinji one last laborious stroke.

Shinji was somewhere between awake and asleep when Motowa came up to kiss him. "I can safely assume that you liked that."

"If that was anything like what you went through... wow." Shinji replied hazily, slightly giddy from the euphoric afterglow. "Just wow." He began to giggle.

Motowa giggled too, at the stupor she had inadvertently put her boyfriend in. "You're terrible. One orgasm and you're out like a light."

"Yeah, well, that's what guys do." Shinji said apologetically. "Just means I get to focus on you more."

"If you keep making me feel as good as you did, you won't have to." Motowa said, and Shinji kissed her.

They kissed lazily for a few minutes, content just to snuggle up to each other. Finally, Motowa broke the kiss. "We need to clean up, you know."

"I know." Shinji said. "Eventually."

Motowa smiled. "Alright."

Shinji was able to stall for a good fifteen minutes kissing Motowa before she finally got up out of bed. "Come on... you'll feel better after this."

"Probably." Shinji said, able to get up with minimal protest from his muscles.

Motowa held her hand face-down and looked at the semen still attached to her hand. "It's like jell-o." She wiggled her hand to illustrate the point.

Shinji laughed and began to walk to the door. He was halfway there before his laughter abruptly died and he stopped dead in his tracks. "What?" Motowa asked.

After a second of thinking, Shinji relaxed. "Nope, never mind, false alarm." He said.

"_What?"_ Motowa asked again, her curiosity peaked.

"Oh, I had thought we would have to somehow avoid Misato-san, but she had to work a double-shift tonight, so she won't be home by morning."

"Ah, okay. Yeah, having to avoid your guardian doesn't rank high on my list of things to do."

"Yeah." Shinji said with a smile, though he still looked both ways to see if the coast was clear before walking out towards the bathroom, Motowa falling into step behind him. They got to the bathroom and Motowa saw the large tub. "Wow, that's huge." She said as she walked to the sink to rinse her hand off.

"Yeah... I don't know why we have one this big, only one person uses it at a time... until now, anyway." Shinji grinned.

Shinji turned on the water. "How do you like your bath?"

"Hot enough to turn my skin red."

"Huh." Shinji said, turning the hot water up a little more. "I think we're going to have to compromise a little bit."

"Don't like it that hot, do you?"

"Definitely not." Shinji said, fiddling with the knobs a little more until he was happy with the setting. "Try that."

Motowa held her hand under the stream of water. "That's fine." She said.

"Good... any hotter and I'd be afraid of scalding myself." Shinji said, putting the plug in the tub.

"You'd be surprised how hot you need to get water before that happens." Motowa commented.

"Lemme guess, you tried to step into a bath where only the hot was turned on."

"Motowa giggled. "No, nothing like that... ow, that would be painful." Motowa said, cringing slightly. "But I did have it too hot once. Looked like a lobster for hours."

Shinji laughed at the mental image. "Don't worry, how hot it is now, it'll still turn our skin red long enough for you to know how that looks."

"Great. now all we need is the pincers." Shinji said, pantomiming a pair of pincers as he did.

Motowa mimicked Shinji, and without warning lunged forward and pinched his arm lightly. "Hey!" Shinji said, and began to circle with Motowa, grinning as he looked for an opening.

Motowa shifted back and forth as she kept her arms up, snapping her 'pincers' every so often. Shinji tried to get Motowa in the cheek, but she was faster, ducking out of the way and getting Shinji in the nose. "How did I get into such a mismatch?" Shinji asked.

"You made the pincer remark." Motowa said, trying to get Shinji in the arm again.

Shinji was able to jump out of the way. He continued to keep up his guard until he stole a glance at the tub. When he did, he stood up straight again and put his arms at his sides. "Tub's full."

Motowa looked at the tub and saw that it wasn't even half-full. "No it isn--whooa—"

Shinji took the opportunity he created and lunged at Motowa, snapping his pincers at the first thing he could get to. Motowa squealed as Shinji's momentum pushed them back into the door behind Motowa. "Cheap shot! Cheap shot!" Motowa said, her face turning red slightly as she hit Shinji in the chest with very little force behind it. "_Especially _where you got me." She began to giggle.

Shinji looked down and saw that his hand had clasped around Motowa's breast. "Oops." Shinji said, laughing in embarrassment as he also began to blush.

The laughter soon died down, as Motowa and Shinji looked into each other's eyes. Shinji leaned forward and pressed Motowa into the door as he kissed her. "Mm..." Motowa murmured as she wrapped her arms around Shinji.

Shinji began to knead the breast he got with his 'pincer' as he moved down to Motowa's neck again. "Mm, Shinji?" Motowa said suddenly. "The tub's actually done now."

Shinji looked over his shoulder. "So it is." He said, and kissed Motowa one more time before disengaging himself from her embrace and walking back to the tub to turn the water off.

Motowa was halfway to the tub when Shinji turned around. "You look like an angel, you know that?" Shinji said, becoming lost in Motowa's eyes again.

Motowa smiled. "Actually, I get that a lot for some reason."

"Well, it's true."

"Thank you..." Motowa said, reaching Shinji and kissing him.

Shinji smiled as he returned the kiss, and Motowa knew he was plotting something else. She broke the kiss and rested her forehead on Shinji's as she said "Alright, now what are you scheming?"

"Oh, nothing..." Shinji said, his tone of voice dripping with fake innocence. "Just... this."

Shinji bent down and literally swept Motowa off her feet, cradling her in his arms as he turned back towards the tub. "You're such a White Knight." Motowa said.

Something clicked in Shinji's mind as he lowered Motowa slowly into the tub. "You know, that could explain it." He said as Motowa touched the bottom of the tub and he let her go.

"Oooh... this is perfect..." Motowa said, not really registering Shinji's statement for a few seconds. "...Explain what?"

Shinji gingerly stepped into the tub before answering. "Misato... ooh, ooh... a few days ago, I come home and find her very drunk. She had made a castle out of beer cans, and when she realized that I was there I think she thought I was the white knight that lived in the castle."

Motowa began to giggle. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen someone that plastered before."

"It wasn't exactly fun, believe me..." Shinji finally submerged himself fully in the tub beside Motowa. "She ended up dragging me into bed with her when I tried to help her to her bedroom."

Motowa blinked. "She... uh..."

Shinji realized what Motowa was thinking. "I phrased that badly." He said, laughing in embarrassment. "She literally fell into bed still holding on to me for support, and was out like a light in seconds. I didn't have much choice but to stay there until she left... she had a pretty good bear hug around me."

Motowa began to laugh. "That must have been terrible!"

"You don't know the half of it. She snored." Shinji said with a smirk.

This made Motowa laugh harder. "Man, do I not envy you."

"I'd think there was something wrong with you if you did. Not to mention what it would mean if you wanted to fall into bed with another girl..." Shinji began to giggle at Motowa's reaction, which was to somehow turn even more red than the temperature of the water was doing alone.

"Ecchi..." Motowa chided, not really meaning it. "New rule, you're not allowed to think that way about any girls but me, got it?" She said, mirthfully but with a bit of seriousness to it."

"Who else would I have to think about, now that I have you?" Shinji said.

"Aaah, my one weakness, and you exploit it so mercilessly..." Motowa said with a big grin as she kissed Shinji.

"Ahh nohmm." Shinji mumbled against Motowa's lips before returning the kiss.

Motowa broke the kiss after a while and rested her head on Shinji's chest. "I think the water's beginning to get cold..." She commented.

"Seems fine to me..." Shinji said, swirling his hand through the water to illustrate the point.

"Yeah, but for me, it's getting cold. Come on, let's attend to business... and maybe pleasure at the same time..." Motowa said, beginning to draw lines on Shinji's stomach.

Shinji laughed. "You're insatiable," He said, moving his hand down Motowa's body...

---

---

_WOW._

Honestly, I had no idea beforehand that I'd be making this lemon scene this long or this... long. But I just felt like going into a lot of detail.

To all those that were waiting for this (I know there's at least one, they left a review), I apologize for the wait, but I did want this exact place to be when Shinji and Motowa finally consummate their relationship. I hope the length makes up for the wait.

I'm already writing the next chapter, so I might just get it out in the next day or so. Depends on if I keep up this hot streak.

Until then!

_RR_


	20. Introjection

_Lemon Alert #2!_

Half an hour and two orgasms later, both teens walked back to Shinji's Lovely Suite. "Wow, it's a mess in here." Shinji commented when he could glimpse his room through the fluffy towel he was drying his hair with.

"Yeah... we should change the sheets before we go to bed."

"I was thinking that too. Let's split the work, do you want to deal with the bed or the clothes?"

"Clothes. I don't mind folding."

"Works for me." Shinji said, and walked to the bed while Motowa began picking up clothes.

Shinji gathered up the top sheet and walked to the hamper in the bathroom. "Shinji, I'm done with the clothes." Motowa called out to him as he dumped the sheet in the bin and began to walk back. "I'm going to go turn off all the lights."

"Okay, just leave the hall light on for Misato-san." Shinji instructed.

"Right." Motowa replied as she walked out of the bedroom, towards the front of the apartment.

Shinji smirked at the confidence with which Motowa walked around in the nude as he walked back into his room and replaced the top sheet. He looked at the two piles of clothing, neatly and efficiently folded in two piles beside his dresser.

He was reaching for a pair of shorts to put on when he heard Motowa's voice. "You're not planning on putting anything on over that beautiful body, are you?"

"Actually, I was." Shinji said, turning around with a pair of shorts in his hand.

Motowa pouted slightly. "You don't want to snuggle up to me, all nice and warm, with absolutely nothing between us?" She said, sashaying up to Shinji with a smouldering look.

"You drive a hard bargain..." Shinji said, folding the shorts up and putting them back in the drawer. "...So to speak."

Motowa giggled as she reached Shinji, hugging him and resting her head on his shoulder. "That was horrible." She said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I didn't mean it, I promise." Shinji replied before yawning.

"Bedtime." Motowa said, and untangled herself from the embrace to turn the light off.

The bedroom was soon plunged into darkness. "Uh, help me out, Shinji, which way do I walk?" She said, momentarily blinded by the sudden change.

"Follow the sound of my voice." Shinji said as he backed up and sat on the bed. "I'm right here..."

Motowa found the bed and sat down on it. "Do you toss and turn a lot when you sleep?"

"No." Shinji replied.

"Good. Neither do I."

Shinji smiled and found Motowa's lips by touch alone. "Good night." He said.

"Good night." Motowa replied.

Shinji shifted towards the head of the bed and tried to pull up the covers, but that didn't work because Motowa was on them. "Er, Motowa? Could you— thanks." He said as Motowa got up.

Shinji flipped the covers towards the wall. "Okay, you can get into bed now."

Motowa got into bed and Shinji flipped the covers back over the both of them. Motowa then shifted closer to Shinji and slid her arms around her. Shinji smiled and did the same, and within a few minutes, both were sound asleep.

---

"That's the last time I take a double..."

Misato walked into her apartment, weary after working for almost fourteen hours. "I swear, if I have to sign my name one more time in the next week, it'll be on my resignation..."

She slipped her shoes off and put them down beside Shinji's. She then blinked as she noticed the third pair in the row, girls' shoes she didn't recognize. After a second, she put two and two together. "Motowa." She said to the empty apartment.

Misato decided that she was too tired even to drink, and opted to just go to bed. On the way to her room, however, her curiosity was peaked by Shinji's Lovely Suite's door being halfway open. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she looked inside.

Motowa and Shinji were both fast asleep in his bed, and from their bare shoulders — not to mention the piles of clothing — Misato surmised that they must be naked underneath the sheets. "Way to go, Shinji." She whispered as she slid the door fully closed and walked to her room.

---

It was Shinji that woke first, and for a while he was oblivious to his surroundings. All he knew was, everything seemed alright for once. It was only when he shifted positions that he realized there was a large, soft and warm object in his bed. He opened his eyes to see what it was, and saw Motowa, looking peaceful as she slept beside him.

The memory of the previous night came rushing back to Shinji. _I did that._ He realized. _I actually did all that with Motowa._

He brushed some hair out of Motowa's face. She shifted slightly and ended up half on top of Shinji, her arm moving up to rest on Shinji's chest as she ended up rolling Shinji onto his back. Shinji smiled and wrapped his arm around Motowa, his hand resting on the small of her back. He began to rub the area in small circles, prompting Motowa to shift again in her sleep. Her arm was now draped across Shinji's chest, her fingers curled around his side.

Soon Motowa's arm, seemingly with a mind of its own, began to stroke Shinji's side the way Shinji was stroking Motowa's back... And then the arm moved.

_I've heard of sleepwalking, but this?_ Shinji thought, staring up at the ceiling as Motowa's hand crept up and began to play with Shinji's nipple. His breathing began to deepen unconsciously, prompting Motowa to shift again, her head turning to face the other side... before it stopped face-down on Shinji's chest, and Shinji felt Motowa's lips and tongue against his skin. He finally looked down at Motowa, who was now staring back up at him. "Have you figured out I'm not asleep yet?"

"I have now," Shinji said as Motowa slid up and kissed him.

As they kissed, they took the opportunity to simply touch each other. Nowhere in particular, and their hands kept moving, but they didn't particularly care what they touched so long as it was somewhere on the other's body.

Motowa's hands began to roam lower, and Shinji sharply inhaled as she began to stroke his rapidly hardening erection. _Two can play at that game,_ Shinji thought as his hand moved down and began working on Motowa's clit. Now that he knew where to give her the most pleasure, he was determined to do so at every opportunity.

Motowa moaned into Shinji's mouth as Shinji reached the most pleasurable part of her. "Mm." Motowa mumbled, breaking the kiss, but not ceasing in her ministrations. "Idea..."

"What's... what's that?" Shinji managed.

"Did you like what I did last night?"

"Oh, definitely, yes..." Shinji said, stealing a quick kiss. "I don't think I properly thanked you for that."

"You didn't have to, you more than made it up to me in the bath..." A short pause, then: "...would you like me to do it again?"

Shinji smiled. "Sure."

Motowa grinned as she threw the covers off of the two of them and got up, turning around and standing up. She stepped over Shinji's head and then knelt down, shifting as was necessary to get in position better.

As soon as Motowa's slit was in reach, Shinji's hands began to rub it again. "That isn't fair..." Motowa said.

"Like I said, all's fair in looOOOOH!" Shinji began before his quote was cut off by Motowa taking his shaft halfway into her mouth again.

"I knew that would shut you up." Motowa said with an audible smirk after taking him back out of her mouth.

"I thought... I thought you said it tasted bad." Shinji said breathlessly, continuing his stroking of Motowa's slit.

"It was worth it... besides, it's nothing I can't... mmm... deal with."

Shinji stopped what he was doing. "Erm, Motowa..."

"Yes, Shinji?" Motowa asked, her voice laced with fake innocence.

She had a pretty good idea of what he was going to say, but she wanted to hear him say it. Shinji thought for a moment about how to properly phrase his request. "...I'll make you a deal."

"Okay. What's the deal?"

"I'll use my mouth on you, if you use your mouth on me?"

Motowa thought that over. "I guess that sounds fair."

Shinji took his hands away from Motowa's slit and brought a finger to his lips. The taste wasn't anything like Shinji had ever tasted before. It wasn't bad, really.

Shinji lifted up his head to give Motowa's slit a tentative lick. "Oooh... that feels so nice, Shinji..." Motowa moaned.

Motowa began to lick Shinji, slowly at first. Soon, she was using her hands and tongue, sandwiching Shinji's shaft between her hands as she licked around the head.

Shinji was trying to keep up with Motowa, but he just couldn't. He had to stop every so often to rest, as he had to stay doing half a sit-up just to get his head up high enough to reach Motowa. "Mo..ohh...towa...?" Shinji said in between breaths. "Spread your... oh, _Kami..._ spread your legs out..."

Motowa did as instructed, widening her stance until she was almost flat. "Perfect..." Shinji said, and was finally able to give Motowa a strong lick with a lot of pressure behind it.

Motowa moaned at the stronger sensation. She decided to be more bold, and took him into her mouth again. It was Shinji's turn to moan, and since he had switched to kissing Motowa, the vibrations from his voice carried into his lips. Motowa in turn moaned again, and since Shinji was now directly in Motowa's mouth, his entire shaft resonated with the sound, and almost drove him over the edge. What was left of his mind at the time spun up and thought of something. "Motowa?"

Motowa took Shinji out of her mouth to respond. "Yes?" She said, still toying with him with her hands.

"What... what will you do when I... you know..." Shinji stuttered. "...When I come?"

Shinji could hear Motowa's series of blinks as she pondered that very question. "Good question."

Shinji thought too. "I have an idea. You see that box of tissues on the desk?"

Motowa looked around. There was indeed a box of tissues on the desk on the other side of the room. "Yeah."

"You can just... sorta cover me up when I'm ready, and you won't have to deal with it."

"That sounds like a plan." Motowa said, getting up and going over to the box of tissues to grab a couple.

Shinji took the time to piece together his mind a little. He knew that if Motowa kept up the pace she was going at, he'd come long before she did. An idea popped up in Shinji's head just before Motowa climbed back on top of him. "Can you reach me okay?" Motowa asked.

Shinji responded by giving Motowa's slit a slow lick from bottom to top, making her moan and arch her back. "I'll take that as a yes..." She said before taking him into her mouth again.

Shinji licked around the top of Motowa's slit until he found the hard nub of her clit. Trying to expose it as much as possible with his tongue, getting folds of flesh out of the way, he finally wrapped his lips around it and began to hum the lowest note he could sing.

Motowa moaned around Shinji's erection as the intense pleasure hit her all at once. She eventually took up the same tactic as Shinji was doing, but she was humming some sort of tune.

Shinji could feel himself begin to lose control, and wanted to shout out a warning, but he also wanted to continue giving Motowa as much pleasure as he could. "I'm gonna come soon...!" Shinji said quickly before returning to his task.

Motowa was barely breathing again, her own orgasm close as well. She noticed Shinji begin to hyperventilate underneath her, as well as his hips pumping up and down to meet Motowa's mouth. _Oh, to hell with it..._ She thought, and continued to pleasure him even as his shaft began to twitch and pulse.

That fact wasn't lost on Shinji, who had added a finger to his pleasuring, slipping it inside Motowa. The notion that she was willing to let him come in her mouth was enough to bring him over the edge, dragging Motowa over with him. If his lips weren't wrapped around Motowa's clit he probably would have woken Misato up with his shouting. He came into Motowa's mouth, emptying himself forcefully in several bursts.

Motowa likewise came, every muscle locked up and her breathing completely halted. The two stayed in this tableau for nearly ten seconds before they relaxed again.

The first thing Motowa did when she relaxed is spit the contents of her mouth out onto the waiting tissues in her hand. She had to spit three times before she got enough semen out of her mouth. "How... how did you like that, Shinji?" She said, balling up the tissue and throwing it at the wastebasket.

The tissue ball spun lopsidedly as it went in. Motowa, seeing that she hit her target, rolled over so she could relax without suffocating Shinji. "Once I find my mind again, I'll let you know..." Shinji replied breathlessly. "My god, Motowa, you know how to make me feel good."

"So do you." She said, sitting up.

Shinji looked at Motowa, and simply shook his head in amazement. "What?" Motowa asked.

"I love you."

Motowa smiled. "I love you too."

Shinji sat up and leaned forward, but Motowa brought a hand to his lips. "Er, sorry Shinji, but we've both got a mouthful of each other. Better to brush our teeth first."

Shinji nodded. "Okay." He slouched a little. "That means I have to get up sooner than I wanted..."

Motowa smiled. "Lazy bed slug."

---

"You know, the more I think about it, the more I feel that we've broken one of NERV's regulations..." Shinji said around a mouthful of rice as he and Motowa ate breakfast.

"Which, the one that states that Pilots aren't allowed to have fun?" Motowa replied with a smirk before taking a sip of her coffee, clad only in a white shirt she borrowed off of Shinji and her panties from the previous night ("I'm going to be sloshing around all day," Motowa had complained, and Shinji got a whack on the arm for replying "You could always go without them.").

"No, th-- hey, wait, that isn't in there." Shinji replied with a smirk.

"Sure it is. Regulation 61, subsection 11.5." Motowa said, an obvious lie.

"That one has to do with preparation for a synch test."

Motowa blinked. "Is it?"

"Yep. I memorized that section after one of the LCL filters got clogged with dandruff."

"You have dandruff that bad?"

"Not nearly, but the LCL filters were overdue for a replacement, it was exceedingly hot that day and I was running late to make things worse."

"That must have been embarrassing."

"It wasn't too bad, until Ritsuko, thinking that it was entirely my fault, made me stand in front of the entire tech staff and recite Regulation 61... including..." Shinji turned slightly pink at the memory. "...proper personal hygiene of the genitals."

Motowa put a hand over her mouth to avoid spraying the table with half-chewed rice as she burst out into a fit of giggles. "Thanks." Shinji said dryly as Motowa began to get her giggling under control.

"Sorry, Shinji..." Motowa said, having calmed down. "You must have been beet red."

"Believe me, I was."

Motowa thought for a second. "Okay, how about I make it up to you. I'll tell you something embarrassing that happened to me at NERV the other day."

"If you want to."

"I may as well. Besides, you might be able to help me with something in the process."

"Oh?"

"I'll explain. I was trying to get my plug suit on, and they come all done up, and I couldn't figure out where it opened or how to otherwise get it on. That... seam thing, whatever it's called..."

"Moores' Seam. A scientist named Matthew Moores was one of the lead designers for the plug suits."

"Oh, _that's_ what it's called. Anyway, I can't get the thing on, so I have to walk out and ask Ritsuko-san for help. She ends up sending Maya to help me put the suit on."

"Yeah, Maya knows her way around a plug suit. Rumour has it that some aspect of it was the subject of her thesis."

"Really? Cool... I'm getting sidetracked again. What confused me is, while she was helping me put the suit on she seemed kinda distracted, and once or twice I'm pretty sure she was trying to steal a glance at me."

"What?" Shinji said in disbelief.

"I know what you're thinking, Maya always acts so professional all the time, but yeah, I think she was trying to glance at me at least once."

"That's... a little strange."

"Yeah. So, um, Shinji... since you've known Maya for longer than I have and all... do you think that, she, um... you know, likes girls?"

"Maybe..." Shinji thought for a second. "You know, now that I look at things from that perspective, the way she speaks to and about Ritsuko-san makes a little more sense."

"I wonder if they're involved with each other." Motowa wondered aloud.

Shinji shook his head. "No, I doubt that."

"No?"

"Nope, and here's why. One, Ritsuko doesn't have as good a handle on her emotions than, say, my dad or Rei, and I've never seen Ritsuko treat Maya any differently than anyone else, excluding when Maya's helping her with coding for the MAGI or something. And two, NERV regulations forbid it... actually, that's what I was getting at in the first place."

"You mean about us?" Motowa asked, and Shinji nodded in response. "Doesn't count."

"It doesn't?"

"If I remember correctly, it states that you can't date and/or sleep with, or otherwise become romantically involved with a superior or inferior officer you serve under or over."

"...Yes, you're right. That's a bit of a relief."

"Wondering how you were going to break the news to me?" Motowa said with a smirk.

"Wondering more how much of our relationship should be kept secret... or attempted to be kept secret, anyway."

"You, mister straight-and-narrow, actively thinking about how to cover up breaking a moderately important rule?"

"Love makes us do crazy things." Shinji said with a chuckle. "Besides, a Canadian politician once said 'The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation', and I'm inclined to agree with him."

"You sound like me." Motowa teased. "I take it that book on political quotes from around the world was interesting."

"Yep. Especially that one that Winston Churchill said about ending sentences in English with prepositions..."

"Which one is that?" Motowa asked.

Shinji switched to a heavily accented English to reply. "'_This is the sort of English up with which I shall not put!'"_

Motowa giggled. "Oh yeah. It took me a while to get that one correctly. I don't know much about the finer points of English grammar."

"Yeah, me neither."

They continued to eat a little in silence until either one could think of something else to talk about. "So Motowa, what's your plug suit's colour?" Shinji asked. "Do you have the black one from Unit 03?"

Motowa shook her head. "I have a red one."

Shinji dropped his chopsticks at that revelation. "Red?" He repeated, as if he needed to be convinced of the fact.

"Yeah. Matches nicely with my hair, in fact."

"Motowa, that was Asuka's colour. Does it have an 02 written on the front?"

"...Yes... why?"

Shinji blinked. "You're the new pilot of Unit 02."

"...Okay." Motowa still wasn't sure what significance that held.

"That was Asuka's Evangelion as well."

"...Oh goodness." Motowa said. "I guess that means Asuka isn't even able to pilot in her condition." She saw how Shinji's mood had almost immediately darkened at that statement. "--I'm sorry, Shinji, I shouldn't have said that."

"No. No, it's alright." Shinji said, beginning to slip into a depression. "All Asuka had been working for, and for nothing... She was striving so hard to be the best at what she did."

"Really? I didn't know she was so passionate about piloting."

"It's all she ever knew. She'd been piloting longer than Rei or I."

"...Oh, speaking of which," Motowa said suddenly, grateful for an opportunity to change the subject, "when did you want to leave for the synch test today?"

"...Synch test?" Shinji repeated confusedly.

"Yeah. We have one today, early, too. Ten-thirty."

Shinji glanced at the wall clock and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Damn! We're late!"

"What? We are?" Motowa asked. "Crap..."

"I'll deal with the dishes here, you go get changed." Shinji said to Motowa.

"Okay." Motowa replied, dashing off to Shinji's room.

Shinji did a perfunctory scrape of the dishes at the table and was halfway through writing a note for Misato when Motowa returned in her original clothing. "Okay, let's hit the road." Motowa said.

"Yep." Shinji said, scribbling a signature on the note and heading for the door.

"Forget the White Knight," Motowa said as they both got their shoes on and headed out the door. "you're the White Rabbit. '_I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date, no time to say hello, goodbye, I'm late I'm late I'm late!_'"

---

Despite earlier assurances that this chapter would get out sooner, it... didn't.

Sorry.

Chapter 21 will have no similar promises, though I do know what I'm doing. For the first part, anyway.

Oh, and for those who have commented on my choice of words about the Lemon scene of Lemon Consummé, I consider the scene to be massive as compared to the little one-page jobs I've done for other lemons I've written (Yamato Gun series, Cyberian Winter, Theories).

So yeah.

Chapter 21, on its way.

sigh ...I prided myself on churning out four pages fairly regularly. Stupid plot getting in the way. ;


	21. White Rabbits, White Room

Shinji and Motowa jogged down the corridor in their plug suits. They had made it with barely one minute to spare. They quickly reached the door to the control room and, breathing hard, they walked in.

Ritsuko looked behind her, where the two Pilots were walking up to her, and began to smirk. "Ohayo, sorry we're late... what's so funny?" Shinji asked.

"My guess is you missed the message I tried to leave you. We've postponed the synch test." Ritsuko replied, turning around to face the two pilots.

"What? Why?" Motowa asked.

"We're doing Asuka's synch test before yours."

Both Shinji and Motowa blinked. "But... I thought Motowa was piloting Eva Unit 02." Shinji asked, confused.

"She is. We've learned that Asuka can synch properly with Unit 02, even in her state, but only the sense of touch registers for her."

"That's... odd."

"Yes, it is. But until we can find out why the other senses haven't responded as well, all we can do is check up on her every once in a while."

Ritsuko turned to Maya. "Synch her."

"Ryokai." Maya responded crisply as she punched in a long-since memorized series of commands.

---

_Asuka stared up at the sky from her position, lying on her back under the tree. She began to pick out shapes from the pinkish clouds in the air. One looked like a rabbit... the ears came a bit more into shape and the body rounded out more to become a truer rabbit shape. Another looked like a cat... the tail curled around the body and the ears became more pointed. Asuka's eyes widened as she realized what was happening._

_And then gravity shifted._

_She hadn't moved a muscle; but somehow, she wasn't in a lying position, she was in a standing one. she moved her arms, and affirmed that the ground was still below (behind?) her. _Oh._ Asuka thought. _I'm synched with 02.

_She began to tap. "Unsynch... wait ten seconds... resynch."_

_Gravity lurched downward again and Asuka stood up. She waited ten more seconds before taking tentative steps forward, arms out, until she reached the far wall. Then she felt her way to the window. "Can you hear me?" She asked, tapping on what she thought was the glass._

_"We read you loud and clear." Came the reply through her palm._

_"Good."_

_"Why did you need to resynch?"_

_"I was lying on my back the first time."_

_"Ah."_

_"Have you found anything out?"_

_"No. We haven't seen any--"_

_Asuka had to interrupt. "Tap slower, I'm getting lost."_

_"Sorry. We haven't seen any correlation between the world you're in and anything else in recorded history, save for an old 00's rock song and a piece of Sailor Moon fanfiction."_

The tech crew could see Asuka blinking even though the EVA she was synched with had no eyelids to mimic the movement. "You were that thorough?" the MAGI replied for Asuka, translating her tapping into kana which it displayed on a screen.

"The MAGI were overdue for a stress-test." Ritsuko replied, and the MAGI sent the reply, both to the screen as kana, and to Asuka as physical pulses.

"Well, I've found something out. I have some control over the environment."

It was the tech crew's turn to blink. "Control?"

"It's not conscious, at least not yet. Small things. I look at a cloud that reminds me of an animal, and it changes to better fit the object's shape. I've began humming a song, and the actual music would play from nowhere."

"It sounds like a lucid dream to me." Maya commented.

"Maybe." Asuka replied. "I've never had one."

"It's like a normal dream, but you kind of wake up halfway through it while still dreaming."

"That kind of sounds right."

"You have visitors, by the way. Shinji says hello."

"Hello, Shinji-kun." Asuka said.

_There was a short pause. "How are you holding up?"_

_"I'm bored to tears. Nothing new, considering who I was living with."_

_"Glad to hear you haven't changed." Shinji replied, and Asuka was taken aback a little by his obvious sarcastic tone. _

_"What's that supposed to mean?"_

_"You're trapped... wherever you are, but you still find a way to take it out on me."_

_"How dare you!"_

_"Asuka," Ritsuko cut in, "keep it civil or I'll be forced to unsynch you."_

_Asuka tapped out "Fine." and crossed her arms._

_"Just don't blame me."_

_"I'm not blaming you, baka!"_

_"He isn't a baka." It was obvious that someone else was speaking._

_"Who said that?" Asuka tapped out, beginning to become confused._

_"Shinji's girlfriend." The same person replied._

_"Who's your girlfriend? Finally decided to hook up with the doll?" The fact that he could get along with his life, apparently better than when she was healthy, angered her to no end._

_"You should know. You teased me often enough about it when she and I met."_

_"...Shimano?"_

_"That would be me." Motowa replied._

Again, everyone in the control room could picture Asuka's expression -- sneering at Shinji. Which was odd, because the EVA happened to be looking directly at Shinji when it happened. "I wonder how far pity will get you."

"It doesn't have to. Love gets him farther."

"Hah! What do you possibly see in him?"

"Everything you don't like to admit you see in him."

The stream of invectives that followed began to crack the glass to the control room. "Alright, Asuka, that's enough. I'm unsynching you."

The synch was cut and the EVA fell silent. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Motowa said.

"No, you shouldn't have, but you could have said worse things. Just try not to provoke Asuka, she's not going to be very secure about her position and she doesn't handle not being in control very well."

Motowa nods. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Thank you. We'll get Asuka extracted and you can be first for your test."

---

Forgive this huge delay. I haven't had the time to get anything solid out, but I do have things planned out five or six scenes (possibly coming to you as the shorter style of chapters, like this one) ahead.

BUT. I do have a very OOC omake lemon scene, for all those interested. I need to clear up some backstory first.

On one IRC server (No, I'm not divulging which), I sometimes log on with a second client and RP as someone from Practice, usually Motowa (as WaterBeauty16). In this case, I ended up with three clients open -- one for Asuka (RedDevil), one for Motowa (WaterBeauty16), and one for Rei (Lily -- don't ask how I got to that). This whole thing emerged from the depths of chaos.

Note that I'm actually controlling all three characters. I think I kept in-character quite well. ;

http colon slash slash ryn0r dot corruptspace dot com slash PracticeOmake dot rtf is the URL, for It strips URLs automatically for some reason, so you'll have to type it out from that colloquialism up there.

Okay, for the crowd, I have a few replies to reviews.

First, this isn't Evangelion, this is Practice (I'm looking at you, Kirbilius). My original plan was to move the plot way out into left field and then bring it back to pretty much where it was by Episode 24, where it would continue on with End of Evangelion (In my opinion, the better ending of the bunch). I found something better to do. So the Shinji character, while originally being how you said, passive and everything, isn't this Shinji.

Second, Shinji has never had someone in Motowa's position before. Due to her somewhat unique position of being a regular female human being that treats him like one, he cares for her. So when he watches Motowa nearly get crushed by the Dummy System, something in him awakens and he realizes how close either one of them is to death at any given point, so he wants to make his time with Motowa, however short it could very well be, as meaningful as possible. That's how I interpret it, anyway.

Third, yes, there will be more lemon scenes. Next chapter will be one, in fact. Shinji is Motowa's first, and vice-versa, and though I would agree that rushing into direct intercourse would cause problems, it will still happen, albeit not immediately. As for the detail, I won't reduce it for fear of deletion for two reasons: One, it's not completely central to the plot, and two (this may sound a little bit selfish), it's my fic and I get to decide how it's written. I won't begrudge for deleting it if they do (They've done it before, to two fics -- I forget which), I just won't upload it here anymore.

Fourth, and this could be giving away a lot of plot, but I'll say it anyway. No, M's not the seventeenth. Figure THAT one out.

Okay. I think that's about it.


	22. Sweet and Sour

Shinji walked into the practice room and was immediately drawn into a long, deep kiss with Motowa. He ended up shutting the door when his back hit it. The enthusiasm with which Motowa was putting into kissing Shinji was a little unsettling at first, and then Shinji began to laugh. "My, someone's happy to see me." Shinji mumbled around Motowa's lips.

"I'm not the only one..." Motowa replied, her hand moving to stroke Shinji's hardening erection through his pants.

Shinji let out a quiet murmur of pleasure at the sensation. He was strangely subdued by pleasure, as if it was slowly drowning him. His breathing sped up unconsciously. "What brought this on?" Shinji asked through his haze of pleasure as he returned the favour, cupping both of Motowa's breasts in his hands.

"Mmm..." Motowa replied, her breathing already beginning to slow. "I missed you..."

Motowa broke the kiss and rested her forehead against Shinji's, staring directly into the Third Child's eyes. "The things we did last weekend... I had wanted to do that kind of stuff with you almost since I met you. I fell hard, Shinji. But you were there to catch me."

Motowa wrapped Shinji up in a hug. "Wow." Was all he could reply. "I... I didn't know it meant that much to you."

Their lips met again, tongues intertwining as Motowa pressed Shinji into the door. Shinji, being trapped, could do nothing but simply kiss back. Soon, Shinji was entering a dream-like state of bliss.

Motowa saw Shinji's half-lidded eyes and smiled, breaking the kiss. "I seem to have stolen your energy." She said.

"Mm." Shinji replied. "I feel too good to be energetic."

Motowa giggled as she glanced down. "I beg to differ."

Shinji looked down as well and began to laugh at what Motowa was referencing -- Shinji's pants having a rather obvious tent. "Well, it's got a mind of its own."

"Explains why most males think with it." Motowa said as she pulled out Shinji's tucked shirt and began to unbutton it.

Shinji was beginning to get nervous. "Uh, Motowa..." He started.

"Mm?" Motowa asked as she began to kiss Shinji's neck again.

"I... I don't know about doing this here, you know, it's..."

"...Out in the open?"

"Yes."

Motowa brought her lips right up to Shinji's ear. "Afraid of being watched?" She whispered quietly enough that if she hadn't been where she was, Shinji wouldn't have heard her.

The tone of Motowa's voice immediately made Shinji flush. He tried to swallow, but his throat seemed to dry up instantly. "In a word... yes..." Shinji said.

Motowa stopped and moved back so she could look at Shinji. "You mean it?"

Shinji nodded. "I'm not really comfortable with going much further here..."

Motowa nodded as she kissed Shinji once, lightly, on the lips. "Okay." She said. "You couldn't have told me that before I got all hot and bothered...?" She joked.

"Emmu-chan, you sounded from the beginning like you were hot and bothered..." Shinji said, then stopped when she noticed an odd look on Motowa's features.

"Why did you call me that?" Motowa didn't sound mad, but she did need to know the answer.

"...I don't know." Shinji replied. "I just... said it. It sounds fitting for you, I think."

"Shinji, that was what my mother used to call me when I was a child."

Shinji was taken aback. "Really?"

Motowa nodded. "One of the earliest memories I can remember is of my mother walking with me down a street. I must have been about four or five. I was distracted by something, and she said 'Emmu-chan' to call back my attention. Not harshly, not even loudly. She just said it."

Motowa decided to keep her hands busy by buttoning up Shinji's shirt again, which was two buttons away from being completely open. "She stopped calling me that when I was around ten, but I know she still thinks of me as her Emmu-chan."

Motowa finished buttoning up Shinji's shirt and Shinji wrapped her up in an embrace. "Do you mind if I call you that? The more I hear it, the more I like it." Shinji asked.

Though Shinji couldn't see Motowa's face, he could feel her smiling. "I don't mind at all." She said as she moved to kiss Shinji again.

Shinji, having gotten a little tired of Motowa taking the lead, turned the two of them around and pressed Motowa into the door. Motowa closed her eyes and did nothing except kiss Shinji back and wrap her arms around Shinji's neck.

Soon, Motowa broke the kiss again and giggled. "I see you're awake again." She said.

Shinji chuckled. "Because I'm kissing you instead of the other way around?"

Motowa moved her hand down and lightly stroked Shinji's erection through his pants. "Not that kind of awake."

"Mm... Oh." Shinji said before chuckling again. "Like I said..."

"It's got a mind of its own." Motowa finished.

Shinji nodded, before a look of realization crossed his features. "That reminds me..."

Motowa raised an eyebrow. "_That_ reminds you of something?"

"Well, yeah... You know what we've done with each other."

"Right..." Motowa began to see where Shinji was going with the train of thought he was on.

"...Well, I wanted to talk to you about... well... what we haven't done yet."

It took a second for Motowa to get what Shinji meant. "..._Oh_..."

"I just don't want to be caught off guard or anything... you know..."

Motowa nodded. "Well, um... what do you think?"

"Hmm?"

"What's your take on the subject... you brought it up, so I assume you have something in mind."

"Oh. Um... I was going to ask your opinion before making up my mind."

Motowa looked at Shinji, and Shinji looked at Motowa, and then they both started laughing. "This is terrible." Motowa said after a few moments. "We've basically slept with each other, but we're tiptoeing around this like..."

"...Kids?" Shinji finished.

"Well, yeah."

"We _are_ still kids."

"I know, if you want to get _technical_ we're both kids... but still, we're a little more mature than the average fourteen-year-old."

"I know... Alright, I'll tell you what I think."

"Go for it."

"Well... To tell you the truth, I can take it or leave it. I'm perfectly happy with the things we've done, and I'll continue to be perfectly happy with them for a long, _long_ time. So... I don't really like to leave you with the decision, but for me, I'll agree with pretty much any answer you give."

"Sounded like you had some time to think about it."

Shinji nodded. "I thought about what I was going to say."

"It showed..." Motowa thought for a second. "I like the way you look at the subject... so I'm going to go along with that idea, and just make sure we're prepared when the topic, um... pops up, so to speak."

Shinji began to chuckle at that. "That was horrible."

"I know, sorry."

"So what were you meaning by... prepared?"

"Y'know... um... protection."

"_Oh."_ Shinji said after a moment. "Okay..."

"This could be a silly question from your perspective, but do you want me to come with you when you buy th--"

"_No."_ Shinji said quickly, then immediately softened his tone. "No. I... I'd rather just do that step by myself. But thanks for offering..."

Motowa nodded. "Um, how much time is left until class is over?"

Shinji looked at his watch. "About ten minutes. Why?"

"Well, um, you might want to take some deep breaths or something... you're blushing like mad."

"I am?" Shinji said, putting a hand to his face. "Wow, I must be..."

"I guess the best bet is to get your mind off of the subject... oh! I know, you were going to tell me about that one spidery Angel..."

"Oh yeah..." Shinji said as he sat down with Motowa to talk about one of the few Angel attacks where all three Evangelion were working in sync.

---

Okay, going back to the short format here. It's a setup chapter.

I really, really had the idea to put a lemon scene in here. Or, to be more specific, continue it beyond where it went. But then I thought a bit and it seemed a bit more in-character to do this instead.

To think, once upon a time, many moons ago, I thought I'd be writing all the lemon scenes in that little practice room (why I named the fic Practice was, in fact, for that reason). It's come so far...

Okay. I think I should save some wordsmithing for writing the next chapter. On to the next.


	23. Inopportunity Knocks

_Lemon segments in this chapter. You know better than I am if you'd get offended. Your call._

Shinji walked down the street to the pharmacy, already feeling nervous... but for what reason? He had every right to walk into the store and buy condoms. He had made up an excuse about being out of aspirin to Misato before leaving. Everything seemed to be as it should be.

So why was he standing here, stalling at this light for almost three minutes?

Taking a deep breath, Shinji watched the light change to green one last time and crossed the street. He walked in to the white building with his headphones still on, picking up a bottle of aspirin at the familiar location and then walking to the back of the store where the condom rack was. He could already feel his face flushing slightly.

He turned the corner and blinked hard as he saw Suzuhara Toji stopped and standing directly in front of his destination. "Toji?" He called.

Toji jumped and turned quickly towards Shinji. "Aah! Shinji! What are you doing here?"

"Evidently, the same thing you're doing..." Shinji said, feeling the heat return to his cheeks.

Toji nodded for a second before turning around and staring at the rack again. Shinji walked up and stood beside him, and both pretended to read the boxes while waiting for the other to make the first move. "So..." Toji said, trying to find a suitable conversation starter. "...Any recommendations?"

Shinji glanced at Toji. "What do you think I am, a connoisseur?" He said.

"Well, I don't know. You could be." He said with a smirk.

Shinji scoffed and turned back to the display rack. "I've never bought these before."

"Yeah, well, neither have I..."

Silence prevailed again for a minute or so. "D'you have any idea what you're supposed to look for?"

"None."

Toji sighed. "Whatever. Let's just decide on one."

"Let's? It's by consensus now?"

"It's better than standing here like idiots."

Toji looked back at the rack for a second, then picked out a dark blue box and walked off. Shinji looked at a few more boxes before taking another of the dark blue boxes and walking to the cash register.

---

_knock knock..._

Shinji waited for Motowa to answer the door, acutely able to feel the thin cardboard box in his pocket. Motowa answered a few seconds later, and Shinji's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as Motowa came to the door in a white T-shirt and a towel wrapped around her waist. "Umm..."

Motowa giggled. "Sorry, I thought I'd take a shower before you got here."

"I gathered that... erm, maybe you should come out of the doorway..."

Motowa blinked. "I was going to anyway... but why the rush?"

"Well, you're dripping wet and wearing white, for one." Shinji said, glancing down at Motowa's chest.

Motowa looked down and blushed as she realized that the front of her T-shirt had gone translucent. "Whoops..." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Um, come in..." She said.

They both started to laugh as Shinji walked in the door and closed it behind him. "You didn't realize what would happen if you wore white?" Shinji asked as he slipped off his shoes.

"I heard you knock and reached for the first thing I had handy." Motowa replied. "I didn't even realize what colour it was."

Shinji smirked. "I don't mind."

Motowa smirked right back at Shinji. "I'm sure you don't."

The smiles eventually fell from both teens' faces as they stared into each others' eyes. "...Um, right, I almost forgot... were you able to, um, buy them?" Motowa asked.

Shinji nodded. "Um, Shinji..." Motowa started.

"Yes, Emmu-chan?"

"...Make love to me."

Shinji didn't say anything, for he didn't have to. He simply walked forward and captured Motowa's lips in a deep kiss to reply to his orange-haired lover's request. Their arms wrapped around each other, squishing the wet fabric of Motowa's T-shirt between them. Shinji blinked and broke the kiss when he could feel his own shirt become wet with the water in Motowa's. "Um, sorry." Motowa said, looking down at Shinji's shirt.

Shinji shook his head, looking down at his shirt. "It's alright..." He smirked again as he continued, "I don't suspect that I'll be wearing it for very long."

Motowa giggled as Shinji leaned in again, pressing his lips to hers. On impulse, he decided to literally sweep Motowa off her feet, picking her up and cradling her in his arms while not once breaking the kiss. Shinji glanced up quickly to get his bearings before starting to walk to Motowa's room.

Motowa wrapped her arms around Shinji's neck, more for extra support than anything, as he slowly walked to the back of the house. _White knight indeed._ Motowa thought, her tongue fencing with Shinji's.

Shinji momentarily lost his balance halfway down the hall, but he ended up propped up against the wall with his back. _Lucky._ Both teens thought as Shinji pushed off the wall, continuing his walk. A small part of his mind noticed that Motowa's towel had come loose and was hanging off of her hips.

After what seemed like a small eternity they reached Motowa's bedroom. Stepping around the table in the middle of the room, Shinji slowly laid Motowa down on the futon, where Motowa flung the towel away before almost dragging him on top of her as they continued to kiss.

Shinji took the opportunity of having at least one of his hands finally freed (the other was occupied with holding some of his weight) to caress Motowa, starting with her neck and moving to her side, and then moving to random locations, not once breaking contact with her. Motowa sighed at the attention as she untucked Shinji's shirt and ran her hands up Shinji's back.

Shinji took that as a cue and sat up to undo the buttons on his shirt. "Let me." Motowa said as she moved Shinji's hands away and taking over the tedious task.

Shinji gasped as Motowa leaned in and began to kiss what part of Shinji's chest she exposed with each button. When the shirt was finally undone, Shinji shrugged it off his shoulders. "Your turn..." Shinji said as he undid the buttons on Motowa's shirt in much the same fashion.

Shinji had to almost peel the wet shirt off of Motowa's front as he undid the buttons, but the effort was more than worth it, judging from the small noises Motowa was making above his head.

Shinji had planned to stop when he hit the fabric of the towel, not realizing that it wasn't around Motowa's waist anymore. So it came as a little bit of a shock when he ended up at Motowa's pubic hair, the orange-haired girl giggling slightly at the sensation. Shinji very quickly came to the decision that it didn't matter where the towel was, so long as it was off of Motowa. He again sat up to take off his pants, but Motowa again told him to let her do it.

Shinji gulped as Motowa dragged Shinji's underwear off with the pants, leaving him as naked as her. "Do you want to put it on, or should I?" Motowa asked.

Shinji, somewhat lost Motowa's eyes, forgot what Motowa was talking about. "Put what on?" He asked dreamily.

Motowa giggled and figured her actions were going to speak louder than her words. She wrapped one hand around Shinji's erection and gave it a gentle tug. The sudden jolt of pleasure seemed to remind Shinji of the meaning behind Motowa's question. "Right..." Shinji said, looking around for his discarded pants.

Finding them, he quickly got out the dark blue package and opened it. Inside were six condoms in individual wrappers. Shinji took one out and looked at it, then looked back at Motowa. "Your call."

"Oh, what the hey, I'll do it." Motowa said, taking the package from Shinji. She flipped it over to read what was on it, and she raised an eyebrow. "Did you just get the first one you saw?" She asked with a smirk.

"Um, sort of... why?" Shinji asked, actually reading the box for the first time.

His face turned bright red as he realized that he had bought a box of flavored condoms. "Oh my." He said. "Erm, sorry?"

Motowa shrugged. "I don't particularly care, you're the one who's going to be wearing them."

"True." Shinji said, watching Motowa tear the package open and take out its contents.

She took a hesitant sniff of the condom, then, to Shinji's surprise, actually leaned forward and took a lick of the latex. "Hmm, pineapple."

A second later both teens started giggling madly, dark blushes coming across their faces. "What'd you do that for?" Shinji asked breathlessly.

"Well, they're flavoured... I wanted to know what they tasted like."

"Okay." Shinji replied.

The two Pilots' eyes met for an instant, and their laughter died away. "Um, right." Motowa said, glancing down at Shinji's lap.

She blinked when she saw that Shinji had gone soft. Shinji himself looked down. "Huh." He said. "Go figure."

"I'd prefer to go make that hard again." Motowa replied with a smirk.

Shinji paused at Motowa's pun. "That works too." He said after a few seconds.

Motowa moved forward and gently pushed Shinji into a lying position on the futon. After he shifted so he was fully on the futon (where he ended up, his head was off one side), she grabbed hold of Shinji's most sensitive part. She could feel Shinji's pulse in it as it swelled with blood again. She toyed with it for a while, letting it become as hard as it was, and then looked at the condom. "Ready?"

Shinji propped himself up on his elbows. "I think you can see the answer to that question."

Motowa smiled as she brought the condom down on the head of shinji's member and tried to unroll it. "Whoops." Motowa said when she realized that she was trying to put it on backwards.

"Mmm..." Shinji said as the somewhat strange sensation of having what amounted to a second skin be put over his erection.

"D'you think it's on right?" Motowa asked, appraising her work.

"I don't know... only one way to find out, isn't there?" Shinji replied.

"Only one that I know of..."

Motowa climbed on top of Shinji and straddled him. "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be..."

Motowa grasped Shinji once more and was about to guide him into her when she was startled by a loud siren that seemed to echo through the city. Both teens froze for a good ten seconds.

Motowa realized what it was first, and upon that realization, exasperatedly said "You've got to be _kidding_ me."

It was an Angel alarm.

---

It's official. I'm a bastard.

Yes, I know this shouldn't have taken this long to write. I was busy with several projects, including but not limited to a mock-up soundtrack for a game that doesn't exist, a D&D campaign and an attempt to write something for the Winter Wonderland contest at MediaMiner. So yeah. Practice has been neglected.

At least I got this here before the new year... :

Whatever holiday you celebrate around this time, have a good one.

TRR


End file.
